Textures
by Theory-n-Enchantment
Summary: Raven and Gar's friendship had grown over the years as they had matured and became comfortable in their own skins. But there were still secrets and questions they kept to themselves. One night, in an effort to comfort Raven, Gar approaches her in the form of a house cat. And she starts to discover her joy in exploring all the textures of his various animal skins.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Raven rubbed her eyes. Really, she could just take a nap. But if she wanted to be exhausted enough to sleep through the night, she couldn't. Besides she needed to figure out her small demon problem. She flipped through the book for a couple more pages. Nothing helpful was coming up. It had been several hours of research and her lack of sleep was making it hard to focus. With one last desperate effort, she started reading out loud, forcing herself to concentration on the words. Minutes ticked by, and her eyes grew heavy.

She threw the cover shut and huffed. This happened every year. But just because she knew it was coming doesn't mean she was happy about it. Standing up, she stretched out and stifled a yawn. There was at least hope there were people in the common room to keep her awake. Maybe even extras, the younger titans that had begun to be recruited. Their wild emotions could wire her up more than anything else, and right now she could use exactly that.

"Good Afternoon Raven!" Kory cheered from the kitchen as Raven entered.

"Hey." Raven started to yawn again before she could get another word out.

"We have lunch left over." Robin pointed to the sandwich stuff laid out. Per usual, he was at his own table, surrounded by gadgets, data, and several communicators.

"And I'm making dessert!" Kory added, sniffing a pot.

"Thanks." Raven quietly replied. Everyone was enjoying the quiet afternoon with no trouble, and a chance to relax. Of course. She wanted loud energetic teammates. Something to pull up her own energy and wear her out. Not half awake zombies going about a boring day. The irony of how many times she had wished for exactly this was not lost on her. Gar sat at the table with the food. His eyes scanned over her as she approached. The comic book in front of him laid askew, almost tipping off the table. He had been lazily flipping through it, disinterested.

Raven apathetically threw together a small sandwich and headed for the couch to be alone. A little disappointed to say the least. But Gar followed and sat down close to her.

"Hey," he said low enough for just the two of them. In the background Robin started coughing and Kory tried explaining what was actually in the food.

Raven smiled between bites. That was more like it.

"Are you alright?" He whispered.

"Yeah. Just tired." Raven shrugged, knowing he was probably picking up on a few things. As his powers had grown he had almost gotten a sixth sense about a variety of things. Including, body temperature, heart rate, hormones, and fear to name a few. He nodded like he had expected that answer.

"Alright, well what do you have planned for today? A nap?"

"No, that's the last thing I need. I was trying to do some research but failed miserably." She chewed on her bite thinking over a few options. Shrugged she looked at Gar, "you?"

"Ah," Gar leaned back into the sofa, "not much. Are you looking for something to wear you out or something that takes little to no effort?"

"Wear me out."

He pretended to ponder it, "Well, we _could_ play some racquetball…." His voice was lost in thought, like he had no idea why it had even come to mind.

Raven rolled her eyes, "Has no one wanted to play you?" A small whimper came out of his mouth. His lower lip stuck out a tad and he gave the most sorrowful shake of his head. "What a pity." Gar had made sure to break in the new racquetball room with anyone who would be willing to play. Unfortunately, he had tired everyone else of the game.

But before she realized it, Gar was gone from the couch. Turning around a couple times she only saw a giggling Kory and a slime covered Robin. A light tap at her leg drew her attention. His tiny paw was soft on her bare leg and the look of pure hope on his tiny fluffy face was unbearable.

"Fine." Raven levitated the ball from the green puppy's mouth. "But we're getting a ball you haven't chewed on."

He radiated pure ecstasy as he bound away, wagging his tail. "Good luck!" He hollered back. Looking back at the ball, Raven formed a black force around it and spun it so fast the slobber came off onto the black shield. At least that's what she told herself as she reached out to grab it.

Standing to follow the mutt downstairs, Raven had to smile. She tried her best not to pry into her friend's feelings. Although her various abilities, empathy included, had grown stronger, she had a better grasp on how to control them. And retreating her empathetic reach, was a wonderful first step. After a fight, Robin's anger, or stubborn determination to not let the fight go, couldn't rub off on her. And Kory's quick changing emotions couldn't mess with her even control on everything. But Gar's positive emotions were different. He was so willing to seize life and draw upon any bit of positive he could find, that she couldn't help but feel it. She had learned of his dark past in their years together, and appreciated his positive outlook even more now.

Raven walked down the last set of stairs slowly, trying to stretch out a little bit with each step. A rush of footsteps had her pressed up to the wall. They passed, but then Gar came speeding back down the stairs. He was so unbelievably excited and just purely happy to be playing with someone that Raven easily saw him as the animal he currently appeared as. The green dog bowed on his front legs, lowering his head to the ground, and wagged his tail enthusiastically.

Raven tried to hide her smile and waved him away. This would definitely wear her out.

But it didn't

* * *

Raven felt a rib crack as she slammed into the wall. She slid to the ground and wheezed out a groan. Luckily she had slid behind a fallen wall and had some time to recollect herself. Gingerly she touched the forming bruise and hissed. The sound of a grappling hook clinking above her echoed, and Robin landed beside her.

"You okay?" He leaned over and tried to examine her side.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." she waved him off. Assessing her state, he hesitated just a second. Then quickly left and returned to the fight as Kory let loose a series of shots to cover him.

A few more hits came, each knocking the wind out of her. She couldn't seem to catch a break. As soon as she caught her footing, she was blown down again. The metal of Cyborg's arms hurt her already bruised body as he caught her. He tried to gently put her down, but grimaced as he saw her pain.

"Sorry, girl. You doing alright?"

"Yeah, I'm just tired. You get in there." She stayed still till he had run by, then crawled off to a good hiding spot. By this point she was sure to be causing more trouble than she's worth. They had all grown smarter, and when it was time to pull back they did. She knew the fight was almost over anyway. Several calls, threats, growls, and explosions could be heard all around her. Then one extremely loud bomb went off and everything came to a nice calm.

"Hey!" Cyborg called in the hole. "Are you in there?"

"Yeah." Raven crawled out. Her body was exhausted. And her knees begged her to start flying again. "Sorry, I was just getting in the way." Robin went to respond, but Cy cut in. Robin could be sympathetic, but in the heat of battle sometimes he came off rough. She smiled at the metal man, knowing what he was doing.

"Hey, man. That's alright. It happens." He held his hands out to lift her up. "Nothing bacon for dinner won't fix!" Robin was already tapping several things in to communicator.

"Yeah. Cy just make sure you check her bones. That one blow looked pretty bad." Robin said, only half paying attention, as he was already mentally sorting things out. He pointed Gar towards the needed clean up and everyone moved about their duties.

"How's that feel?" Cy tapped a spot on her side lightly.

"Hurts." Raven kept her face unreadable. "But it's fine."

"Yeah, scans say it's cracked, not broken. It's gonna hurt like a bitch for a bit."

"I know, I'll be alright." Raven was trying her best to keep everyone from asking questions. They all had their bad days, sometimes they offered explanations, sometimes not. So it wasn't totally out of the question for her to be a bit tired. She exhaled loudly and leaned back against the wall. Surely she would get sleep tonight.

But she didn't.

* * *

The tea was almost ready, even though she wasn't convinced it would work. She drummed her fingers on the table. Long before the kettle blew, she snatched it off the stove and started pouring the water. It was close enough.

Before she could pick it up, a soft bit of fur rubbed against her leg. Letting out a few choice words, she jumped back from the animal.

"Oh Azar. What the hell Gar?" She swore. The green cat just looked back, before purring and rubbing against her leg. Raven levitated the tea box over, selected her choice, and threw the trash away with an easy pitch. All the while, the green lump of fuzz was purring on top of her foot. Despite meaning to leave and kick him off, she stopped. Looking down, she watched the little cat. He wasn't radiating happiness as usual. He was purring sure, but something was different.

Raven watched as he looked up at her, remaining perfectly calm and quiet. Something told her, he wasn't going to talk all night. That he was here purposefully as an animal to show he was just here to listen, as a normal cat would be. Reaching down, she scooped up the cat and tea, and walked back to her room.

The candles of her room lit as they entered, and a soothing sent of mint and burning wood wafted through the room. She regarded the chair for a second, but shrugged, if he was here to help her sleep, there was only one place to go. The cat hopped onto the bed as they approached it, curled up, and looked back at her. He had given her a fair amount of space, probably out of comfort. But she climbed into the bed and crossed her legs within arm's reach of him.

"I…" Raven started, looking over at him. The cat kept his chin on the bed, didn't move, just waited. She took a deep breath. "Every year I have bad dreams the week before my birthday. I.." She huffed again. "I know it's over. But for some reason it keeps coming back."

The green cat stretched out a small paw toward her. She reached back, scratching his head as she sipped her tea. And for several minutes they stayed like that. His content purring soothed her uneasiness about speaking to someone. So she set the tea to the side and pulled her hand back.

"I don't like asking for help. I feel like I should be able to handle this. I mean who else would even know how to help?" She fiddled with the blanket crumbled up on the bed from where she threw it. "I need sleep. But I'm afraid to fall asleep. I know I'll wake back up in a couple hours. I'm…I'm just exhausted. But I mean I survive each year. And then it seems not so bad. Well, once it's over." She rubbed her side. "This is the first year I've had a cracked rib though. It makes it harder to sleep or lay down. I can't find the right way to lay. And I definitely don't have the energy to heal it." She puffed, having blurted everything out before she thought too much about it.

Raven started to pile up the pillows on her bed as the cat stood up. She glanced at him, not wanting him to leave. But also not having the nerve to ask him to stay in her bed. The bed audibly groaned as the tiny cat turned in a much larger cat. Despite knowing it was Gar, seeing the tiger circling around behind her made her jump. Sometimes his changes were too realistic. But she had to be a bit grateful for that fact right now. Hadn't it been, she might not have opened up to the little house cat. He nudged the pillows aside and laid down between the headboard and her. Again, he calmly rested his chin on the bed and watched her. Inching back, she scooted herself closer to the large mass behind her. Then as slowly as she could, she eased herself back on to him. His warmth felt good on her sore body. She rolled onto her side and after several adjustments, found the perfect angle to ease her pain.

She glanced back at Gar's face. His eyes were shut, appearing to be asleep. The green and black fur was softer than she thought it would be. For as many times as he changed to various animals, she had never felt his fur. After all, that seemed a strange thing to do with a friend, pet him. Taking the chance, out of curiosity, she ran her fingers through his fur. It was delightfully soft, and for a moment she lost herself, forgetting she was in fact petting Gar.

A slight purring sound startled her slightly and she looked back to his face. He was watching her again. And as she looked back at him, she could see his fur shift. He kept his body the same to prevent her rib from moving. But the fur her fingers were still weaved in was now slightly different. A bit thicker, shorter, and softer. She moved her eyes back to the fur and started roaming her fingers through it again. She hadn't the slightest idea what type of animal it could be, but it was soft, warm, and very comfortable.

After several minutes her head sank a bit deeper into his side. And with a few more runs of her fingers, she felt herself drifting off. His side rose and fell in a gentle rhythm and Raven took this as something easy to focus on.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Gar woke up as body on top of him moved slightly. Still curled up against him, Raven was starting to wake up. Her heart rate was picking up a tad and she was beginning to make more tiny movements. During the night he had woken up several times. Every time she flinched or started breathing heavy he was subconsciously stirred. Even now he wasn't really aware of everything that changed as she woke up, he _just knew_ she was waking up.

She looked peaceful. But more importantly, well rested. Her hair was disheveled. Her shirt was crooked, slipping off one shoulder and had risen slightly on her abdomen. And her mouth was just slightly open. Only partially awake she reached for the blanket covering her legs. He had pulled it around her when she started to get cold during the night, though she had partially shoved it off a few hours later. Sleeping with a tiger was probably a bit warmer than she was used to.

Raven's eyes started to flick open and he quickly looked towards the door, as if he hadn't just been watching her. She stayed still for a while, probably gaining her grounds again, and remembering why she was waking up like this. Then he felt the delightful touch of her fingers through his fur. He had let it return to its original stripes at some point during the night, it was instinctively easier to stay as the whole animal. Running through various animals in his mind, he finally settled on a fennec fox. She only jumped slightly as the fur in her fingers shifted. Again he made sure to keep the body she was resting on the same. The tickle of her fingers was enjoyable. Even when she pushed her fingers through, against the lay of his fur, to touch the undercoat. She continued to play with his fur for several more minutes. It was serene and he knew he could stay like that for hours. It wasn't until she shifted again that he realized he had closed his eyes and began to purr. A little embarrassing.

"Thank you," she whispered. He opened his eyes and looked at her, but waited as she started to talk a few more times. Obviously trying to figure out what to say.

She sighed and continued. "I was going to apologize for trapping you here so long, and tell you that you didn't have to stay. But I'm not sure I would have slept so long without you here." She sat up, noticing the blanket. A beautiful smile crossed her face as she must have realized she hadn't fallen asleep with the blanket anywhere near her. It warmed him to know he could make her smile like that.

She twisted around, "What time is it anyway? My alarm must be close to going off."

Gar shifted the cords in his throat, and part of the cat's mouth. "I turned it off. I'd say it's about noon." She jumped, probably from the break in illusion.

"Noon?!" Or because of the time he had said. "I haven't slept this late in a long time. And you…" she trailed off. Her face went from shock to something sentimental. "You stayed this whole time? I… " He knew there was an apology forming.

"Tigers sleep a lot, like 20 hours a day. This is nothing. I could easily stay here much longer."

"But you're not…" She was thinking it over. She knew him as a human and that's what he normally was to her.

"I normally have human characteristics because I spent most of my time in that form. If I spend a lot of time as something else, I start to pick up those characteristics. Like sleeping a lot." She nodded, still obviously thinking it over. "I could also kill for a piece of meat, which isn't going to happen. So obviously they're not terribly overpowering senses to combat." Though, at one point they had been a lot stronger.

She smiled. "Yeah. That makes sense. I knew about the influence of anger and those kind of emotions. I hadn't thought about things like sleep. So, what if you spent a couple hours as something that sleeps only a few hours? Would it balance out?"

He doubted she could tell he was smiling. They knew a good bit of each other's powers during battle. They had to in order to become a solid unit. But she had never asked about how it affected him outside of fighting. She only knew what he had offered to tell her, which was a good bit. Being a fairly secret person, he figured she was being as unobtrusive as she wished them to be with her. But he liked her curiosity, it was flattering.

"Yeah, sort of. But it gets messy and sort of adds layers of complexity. So I prefer just to go back to being human and letting it wear off." She nodded then reached out to touch his side beside his shoulder.

"Who's fur is this?" She asked. Her hand flew to her side as she did. She didn't wince in pain and simply sat back and looked at him to answer.

"Fennec Fox, last night it was a chinchilla." He answered, though his mind was now focused on the side she was tapping. He could see the slight movement in her fingers and she tested out putting pressure on different parts of her body. She giggled lightly, drawing his attention quickly back to her face.

"What?" He asked.

"Oh, it just seems absurd to picture a cute cuddly little creature like a chinchilla as a huge tiger. Or vice versa." She smiled and rolled her eyes. "I don't know why that's funny to me."

He laughed, "I'm sure I could come up with much stranger tonight." It slipped out before he realized what he was saying. He had meant to offer it, not _assume_ he would be here again. But instead of looking shocked or offended she blushed slightly and smiled. Her inspection of her side must have been complete and she drew her hand away.

"I must have healed my rib during the night. It's a bit stiff. But a lot better."

"You did get pretty cold at one point early this morning, I figured that's what was going on and didn't wake you." He said. This got her attention more than inviting himself back into her bed had. She regarded him for a few seconds then looked away. Lifting her arms, she started to bend to one side then the other.

"Do you mind if I take a look at it?" He asked. She shook her head and lifted her shirt slight, pointing to one of the ribs.

"I think it was this one." Gar made a point of hopping off her bed before he shifted back to being a human. She had shown a lot of trust and openness within the past several hours. And touching her bare side, as a human, in her bed seemed a bit far. Turning around from the ground he reached out for her side. He concentrated on expanding the blood vessels in his hands as he did so, warming his hands so he didn't shock her.

The entire team had seen each other probably more intimately than any of their lovers had. When someone's life was in danger, on the field or in the infirmary, modesty was not something to consider. They had become stronger and sometimes picked up solo or duo missions, and everyone had to pick up basic nursing skills just in case. He had sown stiches into Robin's inner thigh. Really, Dick's inner thigh, but he was more comfortable being called Robin whenever he dawned the mask. And torn off both the girls' tops in an effort to reach bullet wounds. And through several stakeouts, this actually wasn't the first time him and Raven had slept together in such a manner. One time he just kept her feet warm by being the dog at the foot of the bed. Another, he had warmed the cave they hid in as a large polar bear.

But even so, as his hand slid over her side he felt her pulse quicken.

Despite knowing what he had done, he found himself apologizing. "Sorry if my hands are cold."

"Oh, no. They're actually pretty warm." She was blushing again, and her own skin was starting to warm. He smiled back at her. Momentarily forgetting the whole reason he was touching her in the first place.

"Um," He started gently feeling her side, examining it similarly to an ultrasound. "It's no longer cracked. I think you've completely healed it. The bruises seem to be greatly diminished. Well, from what I saw. Though I do feel a few knots in your muscles." His fingers found the three he meant, and gave a light push to tell her where they were. She flinched slightly, but let him continue. "I can always work them out if you want me to." He had meant to say 'need' not 'want', but for some reason her odd reaction to him touching her had him focusing more on wants not needs.

"That's ok, I think after breakfast…or, lunch really, I should be fine to heal the rest." She started to lower her shirt and he realized he had remained on her side a second too long.

"Of course," He stood up, feeling his own cheeks darken. "Why don't I go whip us up some food?"

"Sure." She tried running her fingers through her hair and stopped. "I think I'm going to jump in the shower real quick."

He smiled at her. And then realized, he was again lingering too long, as she looked away.

"Alright, I'll uh.. meet you in a bit." He turned and left the room before he did anything worse.

He left feeling honestly proud and ecstatic at having been the one to ease her nightmares. His friends meant the world to him, they were his family. And he hated seeing any of them upset. Especially the strong and powerful Raven. He admired her beyond what he had ever expressed. He had looked up to her when he struggled with his own demons, so to speak. Because she had taken what she was born with and did more than anyone imagined she could do. And he had aspired to be like her. So when someone like her kept falling in battle, like yesterday, it pained him. He of course had realized years ago that she didn't sleep well the week before her birthday, and knew it was coming. This was just the first year she accepted his help. Though he never directly offered, and based on what she said last night, she didn't know he knew.

Gar entered the empty common room. Happy it wouldn't be too loud for Raven. Scowling he touched his stomach. He really did have a craving for meat. Jokingly he thought about turning into an antelope to try and kill the desire to eat one.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

They had spent the next few nights in exactly the same manner. Gar always showed up just as she was heading to bed. And each night she laid on his side and he shifted his fur into something different.

Raven rolled onto her other side, facing away from him. He was actually still asleep. Probably getting so use to having her sleep through the night that he no longer woke with each tiny movement she made. His cheerful demeanor that he lacked the first night was back. And she couldn't help but soak it up. It was actually a wonderful way to wake up. She scanned the panthers hide and thought back to the night before. Their night had ended a bit differently.

The night before, when he shifted his fur she guessed right away. Instead of quietly pondering it till she fell asleep. He was shocked she knew the rabbit fur so quickly. But Azarath actually had a population of wild rabbits that allowed you to pet them. So more like free range pets. She could feel the happiness emitting off him as she told her story of petting the rabbits when she was supposed to be meditating. It had become sort of her own form of meditation. Till someone found out and got worried she was feeling too many emotions and forbid it. Raven had smiled when she felt his happiness shift to sorrow. He truly did feel sorry she had been raised in such a manner, they had spoken of it before. But it was needed. He was actually the one who helped her start to express herself more. Though she hadn't told him.

He had kept the rabbit fur for a while, letting her explore his side and her memories. Then she had asked him for a new one. And for another hour he went through several more animals and she would guess. It was also the first night he spoke. He gave her hints to make it more interesting. Though the hints didn't always help, since she didn't actually know platypuses had barbs under their feet. But it spun off and lead to more interesting animal facts. She liked learning new things, and hadn't realized how vast his knowledge of the animal kingdom had become.

The panther stretched out his paws and let out a big yawn, causing her to roll back over. His nails dug into the bed, his shoulders rose, and his ears pinned back as he started stretching out. He quickly retracted them and looked wide eyed at her.

"Sorry." He quickly said.

She smiled. "Trust me. I've put this bed through far worse." He let out a laugh and she felt her whole body light up. "I mean, when I was younger. Well… with my powers, when I wasn't that good. I…" She huffed out exasperated. She had actually done some pretty rough stuff in her bed with a few people, but didn't want him to know that. And thinking about it only made her blush worse.

"Heh, I gotcha Rae." She looked away hoping to change the subject, but he beat her to it. "Happy Birthday."

Her eyes flicked back to him. "Thanks." He jumped off the bed before shifting to his human state as he always did. Grinning, he looked down at her.

"What do you want to do today?" He raised his arms in the air. "We can do anything! I already made sure we had the day off. The day is yours!"

She smiled but shook her head. "You know I don't celebrate my birthday. I mean, celebrate what? The day I almost ended the world?"

He sat down on the bed and reached out to grab her hand. "And you know I think of it as the day you saved the world." He said sweetly.

"Yeah, well, maybe I'm just not the sentimental type." She retorted. Smirking, he lifted his hand off hers and raised it. An anxious knot, she normally didn't feel around him, swelled as he brought it to her face. Then skimming by, he reached for the wall behind her. He had to lean pretty far forward to reach it and his face was only a few inches away. His eyes shifted to the item in his fingers. Following his gaze, she looked and instantly felt her blush return. Years ago she had punched a hole in the penny he had given her the night of her father's arrival. It was now attached to the dream catcher above her bed, to continue to serve as good luck.

"I think you're pretty sentimental after all." He murmured, casting his eyes back to look into hers.

He sat back as she tried to stammer out an explanation. The fact that she had gone back to find it was embarrassing enough.

"I'm touched Rae." He cut her off. "But it also means we should do something for your birthday. Replace the bad stuff with the good, like pennies. Except… it's about time you got more than just a penny." Normally she just slept all day on her birthday and they had a casual cake after dinner. But she didn't need to fall into a coma to recover this year.

"What do you have in mind?" She asked, hoping he had something up his sleeve. She hadn't even thought of what she would do before.

"Well…" He paused then let loose with a series of events. "We could have a picnic for brunch out on the small island you like. Sun bathe on the beach. Go to the art museum, that new exhibit just opened yesterday. Go out for dinner. Get tea at your café, it's open mic night. And…or walk through downtown afterwards." He stopped with a big breath in.

She stared at him, a little at a loss for words. That actually sounded great. A bit fuller than she would have planned, but why not? It was after all only 8 am. They had plenty of time.

"Um, sure. That does sound nice." She studied him for a minute. "You know when open mic night is?"

"Yeah, I mean you've mentioned it before." He shrugged like it was no big deal that he had remembered something so small.

"Hmm, well let me get ready. Are we coming back here after the beach?"

"Yeah, I'll go pack up the food." He quickly left to let her get dressed. Or to speed things up before she changed her mind. She wondered if they should invite the others. Even if they had their own plans, it was the thought that counted. But she didn't want to risk them canceling plans and coming along. She was actually happy to have it just the two of them. They might have spent the past several nights together. But they hadn't actually hung out during the day a lot.

* * *

And in the end she was happy she hadn't invited them. The small island off the tower's own island wasn't much bigger than a house. And not even that far from their own home. But the few trees that had grown there with the sweet flowers made it delightful during this time of year. Sadly, she never came out here as much as she should. Gar had made a wonderful brunch and they easily talked about themselves. She had been more willing to ask him personal questions as she realized how open he was to answer them. And bit by bit she started explaining similarities in her own powers as she found them.

They ended up in a comfortable silence as they watched the tide come and go. The sun was warm and a nice breeze washed them in the scent of the sea.

Gar grinned at something and pointed to the ground several feet away. "There's a sea turtle nest over there. It might be about another week till they hatch. It'll be at night, but we can come out and watch it if you want?"

Raven smiled. It amazed her how in tuned he was with everything around them. "Yeah, I would like that. I don't think I've seen anything hatch before."

"It's pretty cool. I've come across a few bird nests hatching before."

There was something about his tenderness that always made her smile. "You'll be able to tell when it's going to happen? And come get me?"

"Yeah, it's a date." He said casually. She felt the wave of anxiety flush over him at the accidental word choice. It actually comforted her when he felt as flustered or silly as she did sometimes. He was so self-assured, being the handsome, tall, broad shouldered, six-pack carrying, smooth talking, jokester that he was. And knowing that deep down he got just as nervous as any normal self-conscious person, made her feel just a bit better.

"Yeah," she replied just as casually, and felt the anxiety wash away.

* * *

The rest of the night was just as relaxing and enjoyable. He didn't bring up her birthday much, or talk about that fated day. But he did surprise her with the cheesy birthday cake after dinner. Along with the poor restaurant staff having to sing 'Happy Birthday'. He was a bit nervous when they approached the table, afraid she would hate the attention.

"Sorry, you're going to have to go through your birthday like every other human on earth." He winked as they came up. And she actually found herself laughing. If anyone knew how to be a normal human, it certainly wasn't the two of them.

Even the poetry was enjoyable. His emotions changed with the mood of the speaker and she appreciated that he was a bit empathetic in his own right. A poem about going through foster care hit him particularly hard and she suggested they start their walk early. They spent the rest of the night talking about the art museum, the vegan restaurant she offered to try, and even why the last poem had affected him so hard. Of course, she had waited for him to volunteer the information, but was glad he felt so open with her.

Being the perfect gentleman that night, he walked her to her room.

"Well, good night Rae. Are you sure you'll be ok?" He asked

"Yes, I think it's done with for this year. I never have bad dreams the night of my birthday. But thank you for the offer." She smiled, but suddenly felt kind of awkward lingering in her doorway. It seemed a bit cliché for something else.

He hesitated. "Alright, if you say so. But I'm not that far away. You come get me if anything, I mean anything seems off. Don't be bashful if you think I'm asleep, I'll wake up."

"Of course." He nodded, then with nothing else to say turned to leave. "Gar," she called. He turned back. "Thank you…for," she shrugged, "everything really."

"Anytime Rae. I'm just happy I could help. And I um..." He leaned against the wall. "I had a really nice night. We should make a point to hang out more." A swarm of butterflies lit up her stomach.

"Yeah, yeah I would like that."

"Night, Rae."

"Good night, Gar." She stepped into the room as he turned away.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Gar woke as Raven got up to use the restroom. But when she started angling toward the door he knew he was caught. There was no point in running away, she knew.

Trying to look away, he heard her door open and felt her gaze as she looked down at the curled up dog. His ears went back and his tail started to subconsciously wag.

She sighed. "Gar, I'm fine. I didn't have a bad dream, I just had to pee." She tried to sound exasperated that he was worrying so much. Yet when he looked up, he saw she had a small smile on her face that she couldn't mask.

Before shifting back, he took a couple steps back to give her room.

"I know. I just…I just kept thinking about you waking up with a bad dream and no one there." He felt a little embarrassed, and perhaps a bit stalker-ish? But she still didn't look upset. She leaned on her doorway and bit her lip. After a few seconds under his gaze she bashfully looked down, smiling. Her hair was in a messy bun, the short pieces falling around her face. And she wore an even bigger t-shirt tonight. It was baggy on her, which made it hard to tell if she was wearing shorts or not. But he quickly snapped his eyes back up to her face. She was looking at her feet as she scuffed them on the floor, with a slight blush on her face. And he realized she couldn't have looked more beautiful if she tried.

"Well, I guess I'll be heading to bed." He turned to leave, blushing slightly himself.

"Wait, it's late, and your room is so far away." She called to stop him. He considered the short distance to his room, but didn't comment. "You might as well just stay here." Smiling, he quickly ran past her, changing back into the dog. Tag wagging excitedly as he hopped on the opposite side of the bed, curling up to sleep.

Slowly, she crawled back in bed, pulling the covers back over herself. He could tell she was looking at him, and heard the soft sound of her lips parting as she bit her lip again. It fell quiet for a little bit before she took a breath in to speak.

"Thank you for checking on me Gar" She whispered and rolled over to go to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, they said their quick good byes and he left to volunteer at the zoo. They had a new polar bear that was having trouble adapting. He had been a circus bear and was rescued to live a much better life.

Gar had trouble accepting the zoo for a while. At first he had assumed they were all caged and living horrible lives at the sake of amusement. But as he got to know the animals he had relaxed on the idea. They would not have made it in nature, especially this poor polar bear. And the zoo actually took his suggestions to heart. It has been staffed with wonderfully caring people that did only want the best for the animals. And on occasion Gar was allowed to help with research or vet work. Being the animal in question allowed him to comfort and communicate with injured or anxious animals better than any human could. And if it didn't work, as the case with the testy eagle, he at least could read their language and tell the staff why she was so upset. She hadn't wanted another bird in her cage, let alone a green one, and they removed her younger partner.

But he never made it.

On the way there, he got a strange sense of fear coming from the building he was walking by. Inadvertently, he had come across a bank robbery. Thinking it would be easy he didn't reach for his communicator right away. But the robbers were quicker than he had anticipated, and much more numerous than people normally used for just a bank robbery. He was forced to use a lot more energy than he had planned. And after 20 minutes of getting nowhere he finally had to call in back up. It only took a few more minutes after Raven and Kory showed up. But by the time they finished, he was beat. His head pounded as he looked over the scene. The smell of fear still clogged the building and he tried not to taste the air filled with recent gun fire. A few loud calls between officers passing by grated on his mind as they talked to the chief. It took another hour before he was able to go home. And sadly, he was forced to call off the zoo.

As soon as he got home, he made a beeline for the storage room and hunkered down in the corner. Placing his hands over his face he took a deep breath. After just a few minutes though, the light flashed on and the door opened. The pain in his head flared as the new comer approached. It was rare for someone to come here, but of course they were now. He tried his best not to sniff out who was coming in, but his sensed turned on before he willed them to. His aggravation quickly diminished as he figured out it was Raven walking into the room. She passed through a few stands of boxes and by him without realizing he was sitting there. It was a bit too late to get her attention without startling her.

"Hey," he called.

Jumping, as he had suspected, she turned. "Hey?" She scanned the room. "What are you doing in the storage room?"

"Sensory Deprivation…basically." Her brows pinched together. "During fights, sometimes I have to keep all my senses on overdrive and it's basically overwhelming after a while. Especially as I pick up new senses, and add them to all of my forms. Like the echolocation thing, that took some getting used to. It's like once I realized I could do it, I didn't want to chance turning it off. And then I had like 6 senses to concentrate on at once. I come down here because it's quite and I'm alone."

"Oh…sorry." She flicked the lights off with her powers and went to leave.

"No," he sat up. "It's ok. If you needed something feel free to get it."

"Oh, no I'm just on my last suit. I came to get my back up uniforms. No big deal." He noted she was wearing a tank top and sweat pants, probably washing the one she just fought in. One of the robbers had planted a few thousand dollars on her as one last stab at the titans. The packs had exploded while they were talking to the chief. Gar let out a small laugh as he remembered her shocked face, stopping midsentence as she was instantly covered in blue gunk. She went to leave again, then stopped. "Meditating doesn't help?"

"No, it's not like it was when I was trying to control the beast or other instincts. This is different and harder to tune out."

Taking a few more seconds to think about it, she then came forward and placed a hand on the side of his head. Her cool fingers felt wonderful, and the pain lightened a bit. His eyes snapped open and he grabbed her wrist. Probably harder than he meant to. She jumped and looked at him wide eyed as he pulled her hand from his head roughly. And his voice fell to a serious and deep tone.

"The other's might not know. But I know what you're actually doing when you heal us. There's no point in you putting yourself in pain when it'll just go away." Her eyes narrowed and she pulled back huffing.

"I wasn't going to take the whole thing away." She snapped.

Sighing at his outburst he leaned back on the wall. "I'll be fine, I just need to rest."

She pondered this for a second. "I…" she drummed her fingers on her knee, "I have something that might help you. But it's going to require a bit of trust. And I would prefer to do it in my room versus in here."

He caught himself before he let out a dirty joke out of habit. And cursed the inability to use her perfect set up. After all, she was offering to help him out. Though he had begun to catch her micro expressions, and she did find him funny after all, just liked to tease the fact that she didn't.

"Of course I trust you Rae." She smiled slightly and without another word, pulled them back to her room. He stayed sitting on the floor as she walked around getting things ready. At some point he had grown pretty comfortable in her room. Probably had to do with the fact he was spending more time sleeping in here than his own room.

Moving about with rehearsed fashion, she eventually sat down on the ground over a thick rug, surrounding herself with a few candles and incense. Her legs were crossed and she took a deep breath as she normally did before meditating.

"OK, most of this stuff is for me, might as well meditate while you'll be here. But basically you lay down here and put your head on my lap… looking up of course." He smirked at her unnecessary addition. Doing as she said, he laid down and looked up at her from her lap. Letting a deep sigh calm her, she placed her hands on his shoulders.

"So, what's going to happen is I'm going to surround you with my powers. Like I would levitate an object, but you won't transport anywhere. You'll just stay here. It'll be pitch black, you won't hear or smell anything, and once I start levitating us, you won't even feel the ground. If for any reason you want to get out, just move and I'll feel it. But remember Gar, I'm here, right here. I'll be able to keep a good eye on you too, from this point of view." He nodded, not really understanding why she sounded so concerned.

She took another deep breath and he was enveloped in darkness. His eyes started searching for something, anything to register. And all at once, all of his senses started panicking. He couldn't hear anything, smell anything, feel anything. He couldn't even really tell where he was, it felt like he had just vanished into a vacuum. Even during everyday life, he kept a keen 'eye' on the everything around him. Whether it was knowing who all was in the room with him, especially while in public. Or what was going on outside as the air shifted with the weather. Sometimes even sensing the change in the bodies around him, if someone was growing nervous for some reason, or about to angrily snap at someone else.

This was strange, almost horribly so. He sucked in a ragged breath, but tried his best to calm down. Everything was fine, he was just in Raven's room. He repeated to himself several times that he was in Raven's room. She had even told him to remember she was there. Hell, wasn't his head even on her lap? He strained to feel her legs, but he couldn't feel anything.

A hand reached through the darkness and rested on his chest, right over his heart. It was Raven. Instantly her smell comforted. He tried to not seem extremely needy as he grasped her hand in his. But he was. Her thumb moved slightly, as you would calm a child, and he focused on her touch. Her thumb only moved about half an inch back and forth over his chest. But that was enough. He put all of his attention on that tiny movement, feeling it go back and forth. Back and forth. Back and forth…

It worked wonders and after several minutes he was no longer freaking out. In fact, it was wonderful. His thumb started drumming on top of her hand and she stilled her thumb, letting him get into his own groove. He wasn't sure how long he rested there, but his headache was dissipating.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Raven pulled herself from her meditation as Gar's thumb stilled. Carefully, she lowered them both to the ground and prepared to release him from her grasp. His weight pushed back into her legs and his radiating heat again warmed her. Pulling the black cover back like a blanket, his green skin reappeared. Blinking a few times, he reached his free hand up to rub his eyes. Raven was watching him closely to make sure everything was alright, and coming back out hadn't been too much of a shock. As he opened and closed his eyes she could see tiny shifts in his eyes. The pupils contracted and expanded, and when she looked closely she could see them narrow slightly like a cats. Then round back out. Finally, he opened his eyes and actually looked up to her. He gently smiled.

"How do you feel?" She kept her voice low.

"Good." He took a deep breath in and slowly released it. "Great actually. Though," he rubbed his chin and slightly laughed "I can see why you were a little hesitant. But once I got used to it, it was really … nice."

She nodded, having felt the surge in panic he had experienced. But she had also felt him trying to calm himself, and refrained from pulling him out early. A gentle calm had filled the room. Both of them had benefited from the meditation. Like she had told him she would, she had let herself slip into a relaxing meditation. Though this time she didn't say her mantra as normal. She used his drumming thumb on her hand for focus. His own meditation had started off rough, but all in all that part had only lasted a few minutes. Overall he had faired rather well in the potentially scary environment, or lack of environment.

"If you don't mind me asking," she ventured, "what were you tapping to?"

He blushed lightly and glanced down at their hands. And started rubbing his thumb over the top of her hand. "Um, your heartbeat. It was already much calmer than anything I had going on." His hand stilled and he looked back toward her. "Sorry if that's weird."

She felt her own self blush in response. "Oh." But he didn't look comforted, so she divulged her own secret. "I used your tapping instead of my manta, I hadn't realized I was using my own heartbeat." He smiled softly at her and closed his eyes. He had yet to remove his hand from hers, and she wasn't in a rush to pull hers away either.

"Thank you, Rae." He kept his eyes closed and voice low.

"Of course, Gar. I'm always here." Raven said and let go of the shield she had put up around them. Before she had fully let him go, she had purposefully put a barrier around the two of them. Their small bubble still slightly smelled, but the candles were kept out to prevent even more fumes from hitting him. She didn't want to overwhelm his sensitive senses after being in nothing. Watching him again she didn't sense any discomfort. His face and emotions didn't portray anything bad. A twinge of guilt ran through her as she realized how much she had been prying into his emotions lately. It had been subconscious, but now she was even looking for those easily ignored subtle feelings. The pressure on her legs shifted as he took a deep breath in.

"It smells good in here. I think I prefer your room to mine." She bit her lip and looked away from him. They had come a long way from her room being 'creepy'.

"Well you're welcome here whenever you want." A very long way. She glanced back and saw his eyes were still shut.

The tip of his fang had popped out a tad with his smile. A small smile graced her own lips, he was a very handsome man. He breathed deeply on her again and his face was slowly losing its smile. He had fallen asleep. Perhaps foolishly, she felt a twinge of pride that he was so comfortable with her to sleep there.

Deciding she had enough of meditation, she floated a book over and hunkered down for a while.

* * *

He started to wake just after the sun had set. The book slid back onto the shelf as his eyes fluttered open. She had tried to not light the room too much as it had darkened. Resorting to using the already lit candle for light. Slowly she moved the candles back to the floor where they were, surrounding them and casting them in a tranquil soft glow. Shadows flicked across his face as the candles moved. His eyes scanned her face and she felt a massive outpouring of emotions.

He had been pretty serene the whole night, like a diluted sense of emotion. But he was fully himself again. She enjoyed the rush of happiness. Then she started to feel a few other emotions. Respect. Appreciation. Closeness. She tried to keep it to herself that she was feeling everything he was. But gave herself away with a gasp when she felt a completely new feeling come from him. Starting to flame up with a new sense of revelation, was his lust. And somehow in that moment, she knew he wanted to kiss her. He quickly sat up.

"Um," He rubbed the back of his neck turning to face her, "sorry for falling asleep on you. You could have woken me."

"Well, to be fair, I've fallen asleep on you much more." She admitted, trying to sound casual. And doing her best to push the thought of his feelings out of her head. Gulping, she knew could feel her body slowly getting warmer with a blush.

He grinned. "I guess I got a few more to cash in on then." He winked at her and stood up, stretching out. Offering his hands, he pulled up her. "Dinner? I mean it's the least I could do, I can hear your stomach growling."

* * *

Over the next few days, the crime rate went through a normal flux. Increasing to an everyday emergency, somedays multiple times a day. Raven pulled one leg underneath her body as she went through her normal stretches in one of the combat rooms. Classic music lightly floated through the air as she exhaled deeper into the stretch, all alone. Just as she needed. But as much as she had done, her feet still pained her.

Floating one of the stacked matts over, Raven laid on her back and propped her feet up. Instantly, she could feel the blood starting to move back up her legs. She let out a sigh and dropped her head back to the floor. Shaking her shoulders slightly, as she wiggled into a comfortable position. The exhaustion weighing down her body started pulling her deeper and deeper into a sleep.

But a slight sound of little paws pulled her back out. Raven rolled her head to the side and looked at the green cat. For the past several days she kept offering to put him back into the blackness. But he insisted he was fine and brushed it off with a smile. Usually leaving to help one of their teammates with something. Like helping Robin with processing clues, as only someone with his skill set could. Now though, now he needed it. He had selflessly pushed himself too far. Even as a cat she could see the pain in his little face. She had never seen a cat so tired.

With the same plan as before in mind, Raven went to leave for her room. But a little paw lightly pressed on her shoulder before she could get up.

"You're exhausted Rae, I don't want you to have to suffer for me."

Raven sighed, she knew he wasn't going to let her convince him she was alright.

"I'll stay here then, rest my feet. That's the main thing I need. But I can put you in, no matter my physical position. I'm fine I promise." He seemed to regard her compromise for a few seconds before nodding. Curling up beside her hip, he looked back up at her and took a few purposefully deep breaths. He didn't seem to have any intent on changing back, so she laid her hand on the cat's back and pulled him in.

Initially she had wanted to remove her hand and let him try it on his own. But it was comfortable laying on the floor with her hand casually resting on his soft back. And he was slipping into a peaceful mediation much quicker this time. So they stayed like that. Till Raven's exhaustion became too much. She didn't trust herself to feel his distress if she fell into a deep sleep. And her anxiety over the though fueled her to stay awake about ten more minutes.

She looked at the small lump near her, there had to be something she could do for the both of them. Levitating the small ball up higher, she rolled into her side, and laid the animal beside her stomach as her knees pulled up closer to them. Focusing on him, she spread the black force greater. She desperately wished she wouldn't ruin everything he had accomplished as she entered his space. In the darkness she could feel the cat's presence, he was still relatively calm. And once her entire body had been wrapped up she started to let go. Before she fully fell asleep she was aware of the cat pushing himself under her arm. Instinctively she hugged the animal close to herself, and fell asleep with her face buried in his soft fur.

* * *

They woke the next morning still engulfed in darkness. It has been a full ten hours of being in a deep sleep and both felt incrementally better. Luckily, somehow the crime had ceased that night.

"Sorry," Raven murmured, still half awake.

"For what?" Gar said, equally gruff.

"I didn't want to pull you out early, but I was becoming dangerously tired. So all I could think to do was to fall asleep with us together. Probably not my best idea."

Gar was still under one of her arms and she could feel his shoulders move, in what she assumed was a shrug.

"Eh, I trust you Rae." He casually mumbled.

She shot awake as his words hit her, pretty sure nothing had meant so much to her.

They continued like this, in a few variations for the next few days as the trouble waged on. He explained he preferred the shape of a small animal to allow her flexibility. Sometimes he laid on her lap as she meditated, and sometimes she had to pull them both in together for another deep sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Gar checked the communicator again. Raven still wasn't answering. And she wasn't in the tower. His thumb started bouncing on the device as he contemplated where he could find her. A little disheartened he realized he really wasn't sure. Normally they mentioned they were 'busy' and said good bye, or 'had to go.' Truth be told, she knew he was going to the Zoo, but he hadn't told her too much about it. They had grown up to each have their own interests. But now he was wondering where in fact she did spend her time. More specifically, right now.

Following Robin's sent, of course, wound him up in the evidence room.

"Hey Rob, have you seen Rae?" He leaned into the room.

"Ah, no. Not since training. Why is something wrong?" Robin quickly popped out from behind an old defused bomb.

"No, I don't think so. I just wanted to talk to her."

"Oh, um, well she's been working on something trans-dimensional. I'm sure she's fine, just hard to reach." Robin said and disappeared again. "She gave me something that could get her attention in case of an emergency if you need it." He offered.

"Oh no, thanks though." Gar replied. He had to admit he was actually feeling a bit hurt Robin knew more than he did. Something in the back of his mind nagged at him for not knowing what she was up to. For not asking what her day had been filled with. Or even what her plans were when they split. They had gotten into the comfortable pattern of not prying into each other's lives. Especially when it came to their "real" lives. Gar hadn't a clue what Dick Grayson did on his days off, if he took them. But things seemed different now. He had always had an interest in what Raven was doing. If she offered up a story, he was more than willing to listen. But now he felt the itch to do more than just wait around for a story.

Feeling pathetically restless, he decided to go for a long flight. But not before sending Raven another message telling her he would be back, and he had something to tell her.

* * *

The sun was setting as he flew closer to the tower. His breath almost caught in his throat as he saw Raven on the roof, watching the ocean. Her arms were wrapped around her legs and her head was resting on her knees. Right away he knew something was wrong, and everything he had been brainstorming on the flight vanished.

A wicked wind tore through the air, sending her hair flying across her face. His feet stretched back out as he glided down, momentarily being pulled back up with the air. Walking over, he folded up the, now massive, wings he had kept. He had to laugh at the fact he was approaching his demonic friend in the form of an angel, more or less.

She turned her head slightly to show she knew he was there, then looked back at the ocean. Even with the wind he could hear her gulp a few time, trying to keep herself calm. Apprehensively he approached, knowing she often needed space when her emotions were in turmoil. But also wanting to be the one to comfort her. After he was within arm's length he decided she would have shooed him away if she was going to, and he sat down beside her. Another sharp wind whipped through from her left side, almost forcing her hair to tickle the side of his face as she tried to fix it. Unfolding a wing, he wrapped it protectively around her, blocking a good deal of the wind. She glanced at it, but didn't say anything.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," she mumbled.

"How are you?" He obviously knew something was up, but had no other way to approach it. Sadly, he could see her break a tad as she answered.

"Not well. Nothing's wrong, I'm just being emotional." She wiped a tear from her face and actually laughed, " _I'm_ ironically being emotional. Who knew I'd miss my masterful control of being emotionless?" She took a deep breath in. "I…I um." She glanced at him. "It's not like I've been trying to keep a secret. It's just I wanted fewer people to know, in case I failed."

He felt a knot forming in his stomach, she was anxious about opening up. And she waited a few more seconds before continuing.

"I have been going back to Azarath." The knot turned to sorrow, she was obviously much stronger than he was. He didn't even want to think about his old home. "I went back once to find an old memento from my childhood. And I found people there. The monks had come back. They were trying to rebuild Azarath. So I kept going back, trying to help and make up for what my father did. But I was worried it wouldn't work out, and I didn't want everyone else to know about it. I didn't want the pity when it all came crashing down. It's been going fairly well, a few demons here and there to clear out. That's not the problem though really.

"Today I was cleaning up a large section of rubble when I uncovered a pile of old bodies." Her breath caught a bit. She took a deep breath and continued. "They were all children, Gar." Turning to him, and he could see how much she was crying. Gently, he reached up and wiped her cheek. Her face cheered a bit and he could feel her leaning into his hand a tad. Before too long though, she pulled away.

"I just feel guilty." She finished and rested her chin back down on her knees. A few silent minutes passed by before he answered.

"Rae, it wasn't your fault. He did all that, not you." He scooted closer to her, fighting the urge to put an arm around her.

"I know, but I was there, that's why he came." She murmured, her chin not leaving her knees.

"No, Rae look at me." She did. "You are not responsible for anything he did. You are only responsible for what you're doing. And you should be extremely proud of what you're doing. I know I am. And I know for damn sure I wouldn't be alive right now without you. Probably five times over."

She smiled and looked down at her lap as she folded down her legs. "I'm sure I owe you just as much. Where would I be without your cat like reflexes?"

The wind whipped through again and momentarily his wing brushed her side. One of the feathers wiggled a bit before finally coming lose. It fluttered to her lap as the force died down. Things like this had become trivial for him, but he felt a little bad for shedding on her. Before he could remove it from her lap though, she picked it up. He mused over her 'cat like reflexes' comment, but found he was glad he had been too slow. The tears had stopped coming, and gradually her breath returned to normal as she ran her fingers over the feather. She twisted it in her hand, broke apart the tiny pieces and watched them reform if she ran her fingers over again.

"But thank you, I try to offset his destruction the best I can." She added as she still examined the feather. Then, her eyes started roaming the wing beside her and she reached out to touch it.

"Is this just a larger version of a raven's wing?" She asked, changing the subject.

"What?" His heart rate jumped.

She rolled her eyes as she looked over at him. "I saw you flying in. I might not know as much about animals, but I do know what my namesake looks like."

"Heh, oh, right. Sorry, I am not always aware of what I am. Yeah, it is sort of like a giant raven wing."

She was back to examining the wing. "What do you mean?"

"I just wanted to go for a flight, and so I turned into a bird. Sometimes, I just think about what I want, like speed, and I turn into a falcon without having to concentrate on it. It's become a lot of second nature."

"So, what do you want with a raven?" She asked. He thought he caught a bit of dreaminess in her voice, but took it elsewhere.

"Well they're _actually_ quite smart." He said nudging her side jokingly. "Sometimes I just like to know what it's like to feel intelligent." She shook her head, but laughed. "Actually…" he took a deep breath, "I generally turn into a raven when I think about you." The first time it had happened he didn't even realize he was a raven, till he was shifting back to a human.

He could feel the tiniest shift in her temperature as she blushed. "About what?" She asked, still not looking.

"Oh," He had almost forgotten, "it's the night for the turtles to hatch." Glancing at the sky, "We have a little bit of time." He looked back at her, and lost his breath. Though her eyes were still puffy from crying, they conveyed all the joy he had ever seen.

"Really? Can we go?"

He grinned, "Of course."

* * *

They sat watching the babies crawl out of the sand. The wind had died down and he had retracted his wings back into his body. Well, she was watching the turtles. Gar, on the other hand, kept glancing at Raven the whole night. She was so excited about every new life that popped out. Never would he have guessed she had such a soft spot for baby animals. Almost having to force herself not to reach out and snatch one of them up. And every time a noise occurred behind them she would throw up a force field trying to protect the tiny babies. As she would in battle for any innocent bystanders.

Seeing her so open with her emotions was rare, and gave him such pleasure every time he got to see it. She turned to him, starting to speak, but then thought better of it and turned back to watch the hatchlings.

"Hm?" He asked, leaning closer.

"I don't want to touch them. What…" He stuck out his hand before she could finish. Pausing, she looked at him, and then down at the hand he had placed palm up her knee. It only took a few seconds to click, and lightly she began to run her fingers over his palm. He smiled as she applied a bit more pressure, really feeling the hide on his hand. It warmed him to see her so mesmerized by something like his changing skin.

"How is this different than something like a fish?" He shifted his palm and felt her touch it again. "Hm, that's different than what I had thought it would be."

"Yeah, it's odd to be a fish out of water." He laughed slightly at himself. In the low light he could see her roll her eyes. She let out an exaggerated groan, but laughed anyway.

"Did I tell you I started working at the zoo?" He leaned in closer so he could keep his voice casual and low. And for fun shifted his palm again as she ran over it once more. Looking up, she furrowed her brows but didn't ask about it.

"You have a little." She said, now moving back over the palm as she resumed watching the babies.

"I've been working with a polar bear recently. He's a gentle, sweetheart of a boy, despite all he's been through." Her eyes flicked from the nest and she held his gaze for a second, a slightly bemused smile on her face. Like he had said something and didn't register what it was. Gar paused but moved on as she looked back out without saying anything. "I would like to take you there. I'm not sure how close you could get, that's pretty much up to him. But he's fun to even just watch. He has a gimpy leg, so he falls a lot, but he has a good attitude about it." Gar laughed at the memory of watching him slide down hills, mostly he just let gravity take him and enjoy the ride down.

"Do you work with anything else right now?" She asked.

"Yeah...this vulture came in after getting hit on the road. But he's a real son of a bitch." He said with a good bit of distain.

Raven let out a loud laugh, and threw her hand up to her mouth. Flushing as she continued to giggle, she shook her head.

"Guess I take it back." She said, placing her fingertips back to his palm.

"What?"

"Earlier I said I missing being emotionless and in total 'control'." Her voice had become softer as she watched her finger trace his palm. Again he shifted it, and saw her smile brighten. "But this is worth it. Thank you for bringing me out here. I appreciate it."

"I wouldn't want to be here with anyone else." He said, knowing it would pick up her heart rate. And it did. Biting her lip, she tried to hide how much she was smiling.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

As the weeks passed Gar and Raven started making an effort to hang out more. Including a few trips to the zoo, which Raven thoroughly enjoyed. At the very least, they made dinner a regular occurrence. If others joined them, as they frequently did, the conversation was light and easy. But if it was just the two of them, Gar would start to ask more personal questions. It was never easy for Raven to talk about her demonic heritage. She had told herself she accepted it, it was just who she was. But when it came down to actually following through with that belief, it was a bit harder.

Sometimes she would try to ease into the topic, waiting for a spike in his emotions telling her he actually didn't care to hear it. Each time though, the only thing she could sense was fascination and curiosity. Slowly, she had to admit she was getting more comfortable with opening up to someone else about her darker side. Explaining how she teleported things was one thing. But getting into the actual details of those nightmares was entirely different.

It was a regular Saturday night, and Raven flipped through the book on her lap as Kid Flash sped around the common room. He had shown up with Aqualad to take Gar and Cy out.

"Come on!" Aqualad yelled, kicking his boot lightly on the wall. He always said he was staying beside the door, trying to guilt everyone else into hurrying up. It hardly ever worked.

"You could sit down," Raven teased.

"No," he glanced back at her, taking her seriously, "we're about to leave."

"Coming!" Cy ran by, ruffling her hair "Don't miss us too much, Rae."

Raven rolled her eyes and looked back down. Then found herself looking back at the metal man checking himself out in a mirror as he called for Gar. But Gar was a bit reserved as he walked into the room. Rubbing the back of his neck, he approached the group.

"I think I'm gonna skip this one." He said.

"What!" The young speedster squeaked. "The Sanderson sisters will be there! Now you know how much they love them some Beast Boy." He nudged Gar.

"Heh, _oh_ I know." The flash of emotions told Raven he knew very well how much they loved him. She covered her mouth trying to not laugh as he cleared his throat, realizing the present company and growing slightly embarrassed. "I just um, I've had a rough week. Being around that many people stresses me out when I'm tired."

"Alright man," Cy patted his shoulder. "I understand. So let's go!" He pushed the other men out of the room. And after a very loud half minute, the room fell silent and Raven went back to staring at the book.

The couch shifted slightly as Gar leaned on the back behind her.

Turning to look up at him, "Do you need..." she waved her hand in a circle, forming a black ball. His fang poked out a bit as he smiled down at her.

"No, thank you. Though I would have, had I gone out. Just good ol' fashion down time." He bent over, leaning his elbows on the back of the couch. "What do you have going on tonight?"

Sighing she looked back at the book on her lap. With a wave of her hand it was gone, teleported back to her room. Part of her had been looking for a reason to stop reading.

"I was looking for more protection spells. I've been laying them around Azarath a bit…obsessively. Though for about an hour now I don't think I've actually read anything."

"Oh," His eyes grew wide "Did our Raven actually get tired of reading?" Playfully pushing at his arm, she stood up.

"Maybe." She looked around the quiet room. "I did start a puzzle yesterday; it'll be pretty calm in here for a while I imagine. It's an easy enough thing to let your mind rest." Her eyebrow arched in question.

"Yeah," He pushed himself up from the couch, "I would like that." With another wave, a puzzle appeared on the coffee table. Coming around the couch, Gar looked down at it. A mix of sorrow and nostalgia tainted his happy demeanor for a second. "I use to do puzzles with my mom. I don't think I've done one since."

Raven's heart sank. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" He cut her off with a shake of his head.

"No, no. I would actually love to." He gave her a big smile and sat down on the floor. Already starting to scan the pieces.

They quietly sat for over an hour, just enjoying each other's company. Till Raven saw Gar's mouth stretch into a long yawn.

"Heh." She examined the piece in her hand again. "It's only 10 on a Saturday night, and you look ready for bed instead of partying till 2. I hope I'm not rubbing off on you." She kept her eyes on the puzzle, but heard him lightly chuckle.

"I wouldn't mind you rubbing off on me at all." His hand reached over and plucked up a few pieces.

"Mhm" she hummed, brushing it off and trying to figure out where her piece could possibly go. If it didn't' go in the place she had stubbornly tried 5 times.

"Why wouldn't I? You're pretty amazing Rae." His voice was sincere, but he said it with the casualness of a known fact.

"I'm not all that great. There are somethings you shouldn't give up." She glanced at him. He was happily searching for something on the table. "I like that you're so vibrant with your emotions and so open about who you are."

He smiled and looked up at her. "I guess. I'm not sure I would call myself open though. I can be pretty reserved."

"But you were so open with your struggles containing the beast, or all those problems you had as your various animals started kicking in strong." She had gone back to the puzzle, but saw his hand stop reaching for something and retract. Slowly she raised her eyes to meet his as he stared at her.

"What?" He looked confused. After a few seconds his face softened and he shook his head in disbelief. "Rae, you're the only one that knows about that." He obviously read the shock on her face and continued. "You didn't know that?"

She shook her head.

"Yeah, I mean the others know vague details. Enough to know I was having trouble, and in the end they could trust me in a fight." He sighed. "I'm sorry Rae I thought you knew. I figured if anyone could help me, it would be you. So I came to you for help."

Touched, she looked away blushing. "Well I certainly understood where you were coming from, I don't know if I helped much though." He didn't meditate every day, like she had suggested, till she practically sucked him in a black hole a few weeks ago.

"Of course you did." His voice had risen with a touch of excitement and she looked back up. He was leaning on the table, casually missing all of the pieces. "Raven, you…" He took a deep breath in, as if he were preparing to announce a personal secret. "I admire and respect the hell out of you. And to have someone like you, understand what I was going through. You took me serious, even when I struggled to take things seriously myself. And you took the time to show me how to cope. And open up about your own struggles… well a bit." He paused for a deep breath. "It…it meant the world. I probably should have said it years ago. But thank you. Thank you for …for everything really." His voice became softer. "I mean even now, this, you just make me feel…" he shrugged, "better."

She was in shock. After all the loses she had had. After all the times they had to reconstruct her room from her powers fighting back. After all times she had accidently thrown a friend somewhere. After all the times she had an emotional outburst, caused mini-explosions, or ran away to hide. After she had _destroyed the world_ …temporarily. He looked up to her? She realized the bottom of her vision was starting to blur as tears formed. Coughing, like that would cover it up, she raised her hand to cover her mouth and wipe her eye.

He knew of course and smiled, reaching a finger out to point beside her elbow.

"Can I have that pink and blue piece?"

She laughed light, and handed it to him. He had a wonderful gift of lightening the mood.

He kept working on his group and casually spoke. "I assure you, I wouldn't have let the others know that seeing puzzles upset me a tad." Clicking two large groups together, he grinned at himself, and continued on with the puzzle. "I feel a little bad, not wanting to bring you down with my negative energy. But," he paused to reassess the large hunk, "it would be pretty hypocritical of me to have wanted you to express the good and bad. And then I don't."

Raven couldn't help but smile at this, and found a bit of confidence. "Speaking of thank yous." If he could open up about something, so could she. He stopped rotating the piece and looked up, probably hearing the timid sound in her voice. "I do have you to thank for helping me feel more. We spent so much time together as you were practicing your control, that I kind of started to soak up your energy. The good and the bad. And while you did your exercises, I also practiced on one emotion or the other and realized I could feel without losing control. And bit by bit it got easier." She tried to play it just as casual and shrugged, going back to the puzzle.

"I didn't know that." He whispered. "When you say that I'm vibrant with my emotions…"

She bit her lip, but there was no use lying. "I can generally tell what you are feeling… without trying. I can block the others out pretty easily, and I try to do so, for privacy sake. But I can't block you out, and I sorta gave up. You're normally happy, so I like it. It makes me happy." She was almost mumbling she was talking so low, a little embarrassed at her intrusion.

His brilliant smile lit up the room and she felt that wonderful rush of joy, pushing out any bit of shame. Those beautiful green eyes seemed to twinkle as he held her gaze for a few seconds. He didn't say anything. But as he went back to the puzzle, he continued to overflow with positive emotions. They fell back into an easy silence for a bit longer. Till Gar couldn't stop yawning and had to call it a night.

* * *

A few days passed without them seeing much of each other. And Raven realized she was getting use to his attention. She was getting used to having someone to talk to. Their dinners had been taken over my some tamaranian festival, and she hadn't been able to talk to him about anything personal.

She rolled her shoulders back and stretched out her neck. It has been another long day. And although the monks could certainly sympathize with having lost their home. They couldn't sympathize with her being the daughter of Trigon, and all that it came with. Her thoughts shifted to Gar as she started to transport back to earth. It wasn't like something in particular had happened, like finding the mass grave. It was just a wearing down of being alone; of people smiling at her, but not really comfortable with approaching her.

The room was dark when she stepped into it. Immediately, she picked up on the familiar smell of her room, and smiled. Till she recognized she was alone. Looking at the clock she realized it was much later than she had initially thought. It was far too late to go see Gar.

But after she had changed and climbed into bed, she started second guessing her choice. What if he was awake after all? He was awake at midnight some nights. There was no point in both of them having trouble sleeping if they were both awake. What if he found out she was tossing and turning all night and he had been just sitting in his room?

It took her about 10 minutes to finally reason with herself to walk down the hall. And once outside his room, it took her another 5 minutes to decide to knock. But she stopped and changed her mind. She couldn't wake him up if he was asleep. After turning around about 10 times, she stared at the door.

A click on the door, caused her to jump back. He had heard her. Of course he had heard her. Tentatively, she reached and opened the door.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Gar sat up straight in his bed, senses on high alert. His body immediately preparing for a fight, preparing to take out the intruder stalking him a few feet away. Sighing, he rubbed his hands over his face. Sometimes his instincts were a bit off. Though, there was someone outside his door. Tiny footsteps could be heard approaching his door. Then leaving his door. Approaching his door. And again, leaving. Gar shook his head and laughed in disbelief. Raven had come to see him, and was now too nervous to knock on the door? It was kind of cute.

Stretching his arm out into a long tentacle, he unlocked his door. A few seconds went by, and he started to push himself out of bed wondering why she wasn't coming in. But then the door cracked open oh so slowly, and a sheepish looking Raven poked her head in. She gave him a week smile and slipped inside, closing the door softly behind her.

Pulling the covers back, he scooted away to the other side of his queen bed and laid back down. The sound of her bare feet tip toeing across the carpet made him smile, she was trying to be as quiet as possible. Even though he was obviously awake. Gar took a deep breath in as she climbed in, everything about her was familiar and comforting. With one arm folded under his pillow he watched as she mirrored him. For a second they just laid there facing each other. She had scooted into the bed further than he would have thought, and he could easily reach out and touch her. A tiny bit of nerves clenched his stomach as he realized this was the first time they had shared the same bed with him in human form.

Her eyes were darkened from exhaustion and looked almost as sad as they had on the roof. A piece of her hair fell into her eyes and he reflexively reached to push it back. No longer giving it much thought that he was now touching her in his bed as a human. He had intended to lightly use his fingertips on the lock, but found himself stroking her face with his palm. And after pushing it behind her ear, continued to run his thumb along her chin. He was pleasantly surprised to see her close her eyes and smile at his touch.

"What's wrong Raven?" He whispered.

"Nothing, really." She opened her eyes but averted her gaze "I was just lonely. The monks are nice to me. I mean, they try anyway. But they don't … _understand_ me." Their eyes met, and Gar felt the flutter of butterflies in his stomach.

She looked down at her pillow and started running her fingers over the fabric. "You're not afraid of me like they are. And every time I bring up anything to Robin, he tries to come up with a solution to the problem." Her eyes rolled dramatically, but he saw a little humor there as she sarcastically commented. "Like my genetics are going to change. There's not always a solution that needs to be found. And" she continued, "Kory and Cy try to understand… but I don't think they _really_ do." Their eyes met again and she fell quiet, before looking down.

Gar reached out his hand, and curled his fingers around her small hand "I understand what it's like to have people afraid of you. To have people look at you like a monster and try their best to hide it because you're technically saving lives. I think people have a bit of fear for all of us. They know we could easily out power them, and they just hope we don't. But for us." He paused, having fought with this exact thing before. "For us, I think I've smelled a bit stronger sense of fear. We've both had historically bad tempers. We've both lashed out at certain bad guys or in certain situations. And I'm sure to them we've looked pretty unstable. But just as our friends have, I think with time they'll grow to see the real you, and not some preconceived idea as to what a demon is supposed to be." It was the first time Gar had openly called her a demon. And for the split second after it passed his lips, he wished he hadn't. Though with one large warm smile, Raven soothed his worry. But it gradually started to fall, as she started to gaze at the bed cover.

Releasing her hand, Gar rolled on his back and scooted closer. "Come here, Rae." He whispered. And she did. She laid her head on his chest, and let him pull her in close. The smell of her was now overwhelmingly delightful.

Recalling the other day, he wondered what sort of emotion he was sending to her. Was it shock or pure elation? She laid her hand flat on his chest over his heart. And he found himself laying his over top of it, just as it had done the night of his first trip into her powers. While his other lightly traced up and down her bare arm. And as he fell back to sleep, he subconsciously ducked down and gave her a peck on the head. He woke up enough to realize what he had done. But her heartrate didn't nervously spike like he expected. Instead her thumb gently stroked his chest, and he could have sworn he felt her cheek move against his chest in a smile. He smiled in return and fell asleep with her wrapped up against him.

* * *

Gar loved waking to the smell of Raven, and this morning even more to the feel of her. His forehead was leaning on the back of her head, and his arm draped over her side as their bodies melded together, spooning. His eyes popped open and his whole body froze as he realized what was going on. The entire length of his body was pressed into the back of hers. And it was reacting in the normal way it would, waking up with a beautiful woman. Raven had come to him for comfort, and here he was, poking her in the back with his penis.

As gently as he could, he pulled his arm off her, and grabbed her hip pushing himself back. But before he could really edge away, another realization hit him. She wasn't asleep like he had thought, in fact she was just waking up as he was. And she was just as horny, if not more so, than he was. The smell of her desire filled his senses and rocked him to the core. Her breathing had gotten more shallow and rapid as he had grabbed her hip.

His senses were desperately pulling in every bit of the moment. How she felt, how she smelled, how she sounded. For a long second he thought of what to do. They had never been in a situation like this. But Raven, that beautifully amazing creature, was lying beside him aroused. And he could think of nothing else, but to give her exactly what she wanted. Rocking himself back, he laid his body back up against hers. Causing her to draw in a ragged breath, and he excitedly gripped her hip. Gar opened his mouth and breathed her in with one long breath, as he shifted himself just enough to reach her shoulder. The wide neck of her t shirt had allowed it to drape down and expose her shoulder, and he took full advantage of it. The sound of her hand grazing the pillow case, then gripping it as his mouth closed down on her, thrilled him. If it was possible, she tasted even more delicious than she smelled.

Gradually he started to move his hand up her side, slipping under her loose shirt. His hand passed over the lower rib he had checked on before. Everything about it had been fixed. He smiled at the thought, even in the heat of the moment he couldn't stop from caring about her. Stiffening a moan, he realized she wasn't wearing a bra as his fingers hit the bottom of her breast. The tips of his fingers drug up over the top of her breast as he placed another long kiss closer to her neck. The skin of her body was radiating heat and her chest was rising and falling in excited deep breaths. He could feel her body pushing into him and just slightly, he began grinding into the back of her needy body.

He paused his fingers at the top of her chest. It was a small scar, something you would barely notice unless you looked for it. Something he hadn't noticed until now. It was about an inch under her collar bone, and he remembered it vividly. She had been concussed and didn't see the knife coming. Just as it was about to find it's home in her chest, he had been able to grab it. But not fast enough, the tip had given her a minor scratch as he pulled it away. Though, she has assured him it was an easy enough mark to heal and he left it be.

Tracing his fingers over the center of her chest, lightly tickling each breast as he went, he found his goal. It was another scar, or what would have been. She had been shot a few inches below the sternum. Shot point blank and there was no mark. Part of him wanted to ask why she had kept the knife scar, but part of him wanted to pretend it was for him.

This wasn't fast and rough. It was peaceful and deliberate. And in the moment, it felt right for them. He loved being able to explore the tiny details of her body. So, for several minutes that's just what he did. He ran his fingertips down over her navel, and back up over her nipples. Then slowly winding around them as he radiated back out. All the while keep his hips moving in a low deliberate tempo.

A tiny, dirty thought occurred to him. And lightly, he opened his mouth and gave her neck a small bite, making sure to include his fangs. She gasped and brought her arm up to wrap around his head, digging her fingers into his hair.

"Gar," she moaned. His body caught fire and he knew he desperately wanted her. Dragging his hand down over her belly button, he could feel her excitement rise. His fingertips started to dip under the band of her pants and she let out another long moan. Her body pushed up against his even more and she pulled his hair. Slowly, she started to spread her legs, encouraging him on. Her breath was ragged, excited, and oh so ready.

The room lit up in a bright red and they froze. For a second they just stayed there. Then without a word, they released each other and rolled away. He hadn't even reached his uniform yet, when he felt her leave.

They met up with the team, neither one saying a word as to what could have happened. Three attacks were happening simultaneously, and they would have to split up. He was going solo, but being dropped off by Robin and Star. Raven and Cyborg were going to the third attack. And that was that. It had only taken about 3 minutes, and their morning had changed drastically.

Gar looked up from his communicator just as Raven did. She was already preparing to transport out of the room. Smiling, she turned her hands outward and shrugged. As if to say "what can you do?" Her face was still lightly flushed and she looked happy. She wasn't embarrassed or even mad at being torn away.

Gar silently laughing and shook his head. This was their life, and he wouldn't change it or her for anything. All you _could_ do was laugh it off and keep going. Robin ran by, yelling he was ready, and Raven took Cyborg out of the building. Time for more hero work.


	9. Chapter 9

_A/N- This doesn't exactly follow Gar's history. But It's a fiction piece on a fictional series…. So, if you haven't read the comics, you haven't missed anything._

* * *

Chapter 9

Raven rubbed her eyes as she walked the halls. The police force was a bit overbearing sometimes. They should just thank the Titans and let them leave. So, sometimes she did take advantage of their underlying fear. She had stood up with a huff, and 'accidently' exploded a water cooler.

And suddenly they were out of questions for her and Cy.

But she was not having the worst of it. Pausing by the debriefing room, she raised her hand to touch the door. Its occupants had been at it for hours. Inside she could feel Gar's grief momentarily lessen, and she hoped he knew she was there. He had lost a civilian. And he would be discussing it with Robin for several more hours. What had happened, what should have happened, or what went wrong on their part. She wanted to stay, even just to let him know she was there. But there was nothing she could really do to help.

* * *

It was indeed several more hours before he came out. He stepped onto the rooftop finishing a burrito, drained mentally and emotionally. The air had a bit of a chill to it, but he didn't seem to notice. Rubbing his hands on his pants, he said down on the bench beside her. Automatically slouching back and looking at the sky. They didn't need to talk, not only could she sense exactly what he was feeling, but now he was aware of that fact. The silence was actually comfortable. She had missed him and wanted to know he was alright. And she sensed that he had felt something similar. The longer they sat together, the more comfort she could feel from him.

He sighed and rubbed his face. "Gah, this sucks." He didn't move to sit up, just kept looking at the sky. "I should have had it Rae. I _should_ have. I …. I just wasn't fast enough." Without looking, his hand fell over hers, just as she laid it on his lap. Raven looked at it for a second, still taken back at times by his ability to sense the movement around him.

"Hey, hypocrite." She said. Perking up, he looked at her, astonished. "It's _not_ your fault. You didn't hurt those people. Those demented men did." She paused, and when he still looked confused. "Just as my father did." He laughed and laid his head back down.

"You got me." Sighing, "I still feel guilty though."

Raven smiled, and rubbed her thumb on the top of his leg. "I know."

"I'm thinking of leaving for a few days. You know, like a break." He blurted out.

"Oh? Where to?" Her heart dropped.

"Africa." But then it stopped

"Not much of a break, I know." He continued. "But they've been asking me to check on my folks' house for months, and I've been putting it off. I haven't been back there since… well. Anyway, the guy I hired to keep up the place is moving and needs me to come out and check on it. Probably get someone new to watch over it."

The lump in her throat prevented her from replying.

He sat up and sent her a wave of vulnerability.

"Would you…would you want to go with me?" She saw the look of worry cross his face.

"You would want me to?"

"Heh," he rubbed his jaw, looking out to the ocean, "to be honest, I'm not as strong as you Rae. I would love to have someone with me for this." His eyes locked on hers. "Well, I would love to have _you_ there. But," his grip on her hand tightened, "I understand if you need to stay to get back to Azarath."

"No," she replied, and watched his ears visibly droop, "no, I just went yesterday. They are doing fairly well without me. It's actually kind of bittersweet how well they're doing without me. I don't need to go back for a while." She laid her other hand on top of his. "Of course I'll go with you. As long as you're sure."

Nodding, he smiled. "Thank you, Raven."

* * *

The mood during the whole ride to Africa was seeped in melancholy. As they got closer, he became more anxious and often stood up to pace around the ship. Sometimes Raven would catch a strand or two come out as he repeatedly ran his hands through his hair. But she stayed quiet the whole time, absorbing all his emotions and preparing herself for the pain they would be dealing with upon arrival.

They landed in a field, and the plane grew tense and quiet. Gar rubbed his face and took a deep breath in. Yet they still didn't speak, nothing had to be said. He was trying his best to deal with just opening the door. It took several minutes before he hit the button, as if the ship was still part of the tower and he was safe inside. The door opened and she could almost feel the pit of his stomach drop.

As they stepped onto the field, the sound of a waterfall made her own stomach drop. She thought there was no way he would land them here. But he had. The look on his face told her everything as he scanned the nearby river. Gar glanced back at her, then started his walk over. He was feeling determined to overcome his freight and deep seated guilt over the death of his parents.

But as they walked closer, his depression and apprehension deepened. She had never known him to feel like this, and it broke her heart. Rubbing his hands on his pants, he started his decent on the rocks towards the water, and she knew he was close to tears. The rocks were unsteady and he had to quickly catch himself from falling as he descended. With the burn of tears flaring in her own throat, she stopped above the rocks. After a few more steps, he was on the brink of cracking when he looked up to her.

Beyond the sorrow and grief, the familiar mix of emotions she knew him by, could be felt. And it grew the longer he looked at her. It was the same mixture she had felt after their birthday walk, on the tower roof, in her room after his first mediation, watching the turtles, and when she came to his bed. But almost with a sense of clarity one broke free and flared up. It was as if the owner had just realized how strong it had been himself.

A small smile broke his solemn features as he must have realized his emotions had hit her. Then a tiny flare of curiosity and need poked through. Raven's face broke into a wide grin and she nodded her head. Sort of in disbelief herself. His own small smile grew and he nodded thoughtfully. Then turned and continued walking down the river, but with far less grief than he had felt before.

Raven stayed where she was, watching him from the top of hill as he looked over the waterfall. Even with her distance, she could visibly see him take in a deep breath. He was releasing his guilt bit by bit. He had done what his parents had told him, he couldn't have saved them. But he was able to save himself from the drop off the waterfalls' edge. Raven bit her lip as she recalled what had just happened. Without talking, Gar had proclaimed his love for her, and Raven to him.

His interest peaked and he started to grow very excited as he turned to start running back. Across the plain they landed on, Raven looked to see the tiny dot of a car coming their way. She furrowed her brow, because she could tell Gar knew the stranger approaching. She knew she was empathetic, but reading minds like this was strange. Knowing that he recognized the man coming wasn't a precise feeling she normally felt. This was a whole new level.

She looked at Gar confused as he ran up to her, but he misread it.

"It's Tim. He's the one watching my parent's house. Well actually, he lives there. But he's staying somewhere else while we're here. Giving me you know…my space. Well, _our_ space." He shrugged and winked at her. With a bit of a hop, he waved at the man. Gar took another deep breath, exhaling a tad more grief. Reaching his right arm over, he grabbed Raven and pulled her close in a half hug. Quickly cherishing their last few seconds alone. With a quick peck on the top of her head he released her and started walking to the slowing car.

"Garfield! Oh my, look at you my lad!" Tim jumped out of the car, running over to Gar. They embraced in a deep hug.

"How are you doing Tim?" They held each other by the shoulders, too enveloped in their happiness and awestruck in being reunited.

"Great, great! Ready to retired!" He hooted and looked towards Raven.

"Tim, this is Raven." The man immediately grabbed Raven's shoulders and brought her in to kiss each of her cheeks. She froze at the abrupt movement, unsure of what to do.

"Raven," he leaned back, still holding her, "so glad you could make it! You'll love it here."

"Thank you," she quietly replied. He quickly turned to hop back in the jeep. Gar followed, but not after winking at her and laughing at her shock.

"So you're finally retiring, what do you plan to do now?" Gar asked as he opened the door and helped Raven into the back seat. It was a bit of a stretch, and despite herself, she had to float a little to easily get in. They were both dressed in civilian clothes, and were both refraining from using powers. Out here, they weren't hero's, he was a son coming home.

The two men easily got into discussing Tim's research and the various people that were picking up new projects. This was a new side she hadn't seen much of before. Gar loved learning about animals, though she was surprised there was anything he didn't know. He excitedly asked question after question.

Then Tim casually threw out how Gar could personally help with research, taking the form of various animals, and literally getting into the mix of it. Gar felt a great sense of dismay and Raven got the strange feeling he might not want to leave after all. He actually would be the perfect person to aid in zoological research.

Tim started to talk about the man who would be taking over the care of the house, if Gar approved. He was a newer doctor that had been working on the project for about a year. Trustworthy, Tim had said. But it was not out of the picture that Gar could just take the house back and move home. Another wave of longing passed through him. The longer the ride lasted, as they twisted and turned into the jungle, the more dismal Raven felt.

Gar was feeling more and more reminiscent as they went. This was his home, and he had finally returned. And every time Tim mentioned staying, or his parent's house, Raven could feel his emotions so hard it felt like her own heart had been ripped out. He hadn't planned on staying, but the thought of leaving, now that he was here, must have been killing him.

They arrived at the house, and Gar took special care in helping her out. And taking the opportunity to whisper into her ear.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine." She tried to put on a happy face, but knew he saw through it. Leading her inside, he gently rubbed her lower back, as if she was the one in turmoil. Inside, she could his mind was beginning to work on an internal problem he must have been having with himself for some time.

The house was filled with a mixture of personal mementos and science gear. A few artifacts, and retired equipment lay behind glass cases built on wooden stands. It gave the building a calming mixture between cozy home and classy museum. Some pieces seemed to still be in use, such as the sturdy tried and true, microscope. Though most of the work was done in the lab several yards away, the messy study told a story of many late night projects brought home.

Raven kept quiet for most of Tim's stay. He took Gar around the house, showing him new things, or reminiscing on old. Gar's onslaught of emotions was more than enough for her to think about. He wanted to stay and she wasn't sure if it was better they knew how they felt, or worse. Passing by several framed photos Raven thought of the young blonde boy in the photo. Would it have been better if he left before she had loved him, before she knew how he felt, and they just moved on blissfully unaware? She picked up the picture. The smiling women in the background was beautiful. She smiled at the thought of what a happy family could be like. In the background she could hear Gar saying good bye to Tim.

No, it was better this way. They would have missed out on something special, and they could make it work. Gar's hand slowly pressed into her back as he looked down over her shoulder.

"My mom," he said in a hushed voice. Reaching out, he ran his thumb over the woman's face. "Do you miss your mom?" She shook her head, that wasn't a fair question.

"We had such a different relationship than a normal mother and daughter. I was just being taught how not to destroy the world." She whispered. "But," she paused. "I suppose I do."

Taking great care, Raven put the photo back on the table and turned to face him. He looked tired yes, but right now he looked older. Like he should be the owner of a house and in charge of this land. Life had aged him. Partly because he had kept most of it bottled up and hidden away for years. Failing to talk about anything bad in his life, and resorting to humor and silly jokes.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, running his hand over her cheek, "this must be so hard on you to have to stand here while I throw every emotion possible at you." It was true, but even right now, the amount of care he had in his voice, and the concern he felt for her made it worth it.

"I'm always here for you, Gar. You know that." He gave her a calm smile and nodded.

"Why don't we call it a night? I'm exhausted in every way possible."

They had momentarily talked about sleeping arrangements on the way down. He had given her his old room, while he took his parents. Before they had discovered their feelings, of course. But when it came to it, Gar couldn't face his parents room. He had tried valiantly. But after several minutes of self-abuse, Raven had pulled him away, giving him an out. He mumbled that it shouldn't be that hard and followed her down the hall.

* * *

Raven shifted her arm under her head more and wondered if Gar could feel her watching him. She took a deep breath and told herself not to cry. This was about him, not her. But she hadn't felt this horrible in quiet some time. Admittedly, part of it was what had come off the changeling, but her own had built on top of it. Biting her lip, she tried to rehearse her small speech. She would love him no matter what he chose, and she wouldn't be mad if he wanted to stay. Maybe he would even invite her to stay.

"Hey, Raven?" He asked. She didn't respond, but he knew she was awake. He sighed with a sense of resolution, rolling to look at the ceiling. Perhaps she wouldn't need the speech. "Can you remind me tomorrow to grab my dad's journals? I think they're in the study, but I didn't have time to look through it today. I want to bring them home. And I think a few of the old science pieces. But I think I do want to leave a lot of it here."

Her breath caught in her throat for several long seconds before she finally managed a "What?"

Rolling over to face her, he sighed again. "I had thought them as _my_ parents' stuff, and that I should be able to take a lot of it. But listening to Tim speak with such fascination over each thing, and about all the new students coming out here. I mean it's exciting to them too…" he began again.

"No," she could feel the burn in her throat and still slightly wished she was still that emotionless demon. "You're coming home with me?"

His face became confused. "Well, yeah? Of course. Why wouldn't I?"

Raven took in a deep breath, telling herself it would be fine, he should know he could stay.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Gar watching miserably and confused as Raven tried to keep her composer. He had never seen her so torn before in his life. And it tortured him to know he was probably the cause.

"I can feel the absolute….it's just…" she took another breath. "Every time Tim brings up you staying, I can tell how absolutely horrible you feel. I don't want you go back to the tower feeling like that. If you want to stay, you can. I'll understand Gar. I…just don't want you feel like that anymore."

He was still confused. "Rae, I… I'm not leaving you." She didn't answer. Just looked down at the blanket avoiding his gaze.

His own gaze wondered as he thought about what she could have meant. Sure, part of him liked being home. But it still filled him with dread and guilt. Hell, he couldn't even walk into his parents' room yet. Then again, Raven wouldn't have misread his emotions. She hadn't been wrong yet. But it didn't add up. He had been thinking about how much to take out of his parents' house and bring home, not how much he wanted to stay here. Though, honestly he was touched that Tim had been so excited to have him join the team. Growing up, he had looked up to the brilliant scientist. And to have one of your oldest heroes act like they looked up to you? Even after you had basically avoided that part of your life for so long? That had brought up a powerful mix of feelings, but not like what she was describing.

He reached up to wipe away the tear from here cheek, knowing there was more to come. And watched as her nose wrinkled as she sniffed. He smirked as it finally clicked. Of course that's what she had felt. He had felt it to his core, and there was no way she would have been immune.

"You know what that gut wrenching feeling is?" She looked at him, straining to hold it together. "I'll tell you exactly what it is. Because it _does_ happen every time Tim brings up staying. It's the thought of moving back here and leaving you thousands of miles away. The thought of sleeping alone, the thought of _you_ sleeping alone. It's the thought of never meditating together again. And even just the thought of not smelling you walk down the hall." He ran his fingers through her hair, releasing a bit of the precious smell. "The thought of missing that first real kiss."

His hand curled around the back of her neck and he raised up on his arm just enough to lean forward. And he kissed her with all the tenderness in the world. In his mind, he was purely focused on his love for her, as he had been on the side of the river, hoping it had the same effect. Letting his hand slip down to her neck he could feel her pulse quicken again. And feel the amount of need and love she was giving back to him as they kissed several more times.

As he pulled away, he felt the slight pull of teeth against his bottom lip. And what had started as tender light kissing, was going to end completely different. He gave one light chuckle and started to push himself on top of her. It was unbelievable the power she had over him. Within a minute he had gone from terrified and crushed to head over heels in love, with a rapidly growing dose of lust.

Eagerly she wrapped her arms around his neck as she rolled to her back. Holding him close to her as he began kissing down her neck. Her hands started roaming his body, one pushing up into his hair. Briefly, he was flashed back to laying in her bed that first night, her fingers enchanting him even then. Though, with quite a different side effect. A small excited giggle escaped her slightly parted lips when he started to nibble her flesh. And with one long drag of his tongue up her neck, she gripped his hair. This type of petting wasn't going to lull him to sleep, that was for sure.

Pulling back to sit on his knees, he stared down at his flushed love. _His_ love. It still blew his mind. Reaching one arm up, he pulled the back of his collar up and wiggled out of his shirt. Though, partly for show, as if his muscles were too large to easily remove a t-shirt. The tickle of her toe traveling up the back of his calf sent an excited shiver up his back.

Her skin was delightfully heated in passion, and he loved every inch of the feeling as he slid his fingers up her abdomen. Reaching her arms up, she arched her back at his touch and let out a soft moan. Suppressing a moan of his own, he shook his head in disbelief. He was going to thoroughly enjoy this. Lifting his arms, the shirt slid up just a tad. And he bent down to place a small kiss on her stomach. Above, he let his fingers lightly drag over the flesh below her bra. Ever so slowly he ran his tongue up to her belly button. Then blew on the wet skin. Under his fingertips he could feel the rise in her skin as the goosebumps spread over her body.

Gar grinned, letting out a low chuckle. He kissed her again and took a deep breath. The smell of her was tantalizing. Not only was she aroused, but she also had the normal smell of Raven. It comforted him, it delighted him, and now it excited him. Spreading his hands out wide, he drug them back down her body, letting his warm skin smooth away her chilled bumps. And pushing them back up, he pushed the shirt up over her bra. And with a little tug, pulled it out from under her shoulders and up over her extended arms. Coming back down, he gave her a sweet kiss. Before crashing down to fully taste her. Wrapping her arms back around his neck, Raven pushed her body up against his as she pulled his tongue into her mouth.

Gar sensed the lightning before she did, feeling his skin prick with excitement. But he didn't say anything, he didn't really have much time. A second before it struck though, the tips of his mouth curved into a smile. Feeling her whole body along his length, he waited for it. Then it struck. And just slightly her body jumped under him. Pulling back, he smiled down at her as she let out a small giggle. With his right arm by her shoulder, he shifted his weight over to lay beside her, and started to start exploring her body with his other hand. Using just his fingertips, he watched as his fingers ran from her shoulder down her arm and back up. He was taking his time again, wanting to feel every inch of her.

Gliding his hand back down, he grazed his finger over the knife scar. Raven brought her hand up to rest over his. He hadn't meant to ask, but knew she must have sensed his curiosity.

"You saved my life," she whispered. Again, he didn't say anything, and she knowingly continued. "Of course I've had several near-death experiences. When I get shot, normally I'm aware of what's going on. I'm not thinking about dying, I'm thinking about the process I go through to heal the gun wound. But I was so disoriented, that I saw that knife and _only_ thought about dying. I couldn't concentrate on my powers at all. And out of nowhere, you saved me." Her eyes flicked up from their hands to meet his eyes. "It meant a lot to me, so I chose not to fully heal it."

Gar drew a deep breath in and leaned over to kiss the tiny mark.

Pulling back slightly, he breathed on the mark "At the time, all _I_ could think about was the fact I hadn't been fast enough. I hated grabbing that knife and feeling the very tip of it pull through your flesh. I'll never forget it."

"Me neither," she assured him, smiling as he came back up to resume his exploration of her skin.

The bed shifted just a bit as Raven leaned up, and in anticipation for her goal, he leaned his body more over hers. His face broke into a delighted grin as her teeth grazed his ear lobe. The storm outside had magnified, and thunder roared through the sky as Raven began placing kisses down his neck. Her teeth found his skin every few kisses. And as his finger trailing over the top of her bra, she found her mark a bit harder. Reflexively out of pleasure, his finger gripped on her bra, and he let out moan.

Trailing his fingers back up the edge of the fabric he reached around her body. Raven found her way back to his ear while she arched her back to give access to her clip. And she made sure he knew just how excited she was with a long pull on his lobe and a deep moan. Moving his shoulder as he pulled the bra fully free, Gar pushed himself back over her. While, Raven laid back onto the bed and bit her lip, barely containing her giddy smile.

Glancing back up at her, Gar hovered his lips over her chest. Her eyes were fluttering closed as she inhaled deeply. Again she found his hair, and digging her fingers in, she let out a long moan as he brought his mouth over her nipple. He ran his tongue over the peak before drawing the skin deeper into his mouth. The tips of her nails gripped his scalp as he continued to suck harder, pulling his mouth back. Breathing deeply as he pushed back down, he could smell how much her arousal had grown. How wet she must be getting. It flared his own arousal even more. And the thought of her equally being able to sense it, pushed him even higher.

Arching back, her hands flew to his shoulders where her nails found their new home. She drew in a ragged excited breath and loudly moaned his name. Oh, she had sensed it alright.

"Hm?" he asked pulling his teeth over her nipple.

She gave a sultry laugh, and started to run her hands through his hair again. Since she hadn't responded, he ran one hand down her leg, and pushed his thumb back up the inside. At the top, he started gently grinding his thumb between her legs. Immediately she started pushing back into him, wanting more.

"Gar," she moaned. But it wasn't enough, so he pressed harder and started moving his kisses further south. Then, just using just the tip of his tongue he began his teasingly slow trail down. Though the teasing was beginning to affect him just as hard, he could feel his body screaming for more as his tongue taunted her with a slip under the top of her pants. Raven was practically whimpering by the time he made it there. She had said please more times in those long seconds, than he had ever heard her say in her lifetime.

The button of her jeans easily popped open and he eagerly began to pull them off. Raven's hips quickly bounced up as she reached down to help the process. Apparently, she was no longer keen on waiting, no matter the romantic notion. Gar took a moment to deeply breath her in. The sweet taste of arousal was so strong he could taste it as the air passed over his tongue.

Gar's body reacted quicker than he could process. Barely aware of what was going on, he stood up. Against every other animals' desire to run, he stayed firmly planted and ready.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Without a word, Raven had sat up and was levitation her clothes back on, and within seconds was fully dressed again. Her eyes flicked up as she pulled the shirt over her head.

"Fire," he said, "It's not close to the buildings. But it will be." She quickly nodded and followed him as he ran to the front door.

"It must not be raining enough, but there's a lake about a mile south of here. Can you grab some of the water and meet me?" He opened the door and she could see his chest rise as he deeply breathed the air in. His anxiety died down as he replaced it with determination and focus. "Meet me east, probably 3 miles?" Again, she just nodded, and left.

The air was already beginning to fill with thick smoke, but luckily the houses and lake were all upwind from it. She had pulled several hundreds of gallons from the lake. There was still plenty left if need be, but the weight was enough for now. As she got closer she could feel the air thicken, and quickly wrapped up another ball with fresh air to breath off of. With one last deep breath, she flew over the fire.

The fire hadn't spread too bad yet. Gar must have picked up on it relatively quickly. He was skirting the southern half and she followed him from above. She stayed high enough she couldn't see him, but instead focused on the fire as a whole. Keeping in front of his path, Raven began eroding the earth, creating a barrier between the currently alit trees and still living ones. He followed easily for the most part. But stopped suddenly, and she felt a surge of worry and loss.

Grabbing several gallons, she sent him a separate sphere of water and continued with her eroding. Below she could feel what might have been an elephant trunk push into the sphere. And after what seemed like minutes, he sent her relief and joy. All must have been well with whatever he found. He moved from the forest, over her created mounts, and deposited something in the clear forest. Or somethings, as they were freed from his grasp, she felt two frantic creatures scurry from the scene. And Gar quickly turned to run back.

They managed to save a couple other furry families, and contain the fire in only a few minutes. Gar began manually trying to stomp out the fire as Raven began throwing water. She focused on the hotter sections as he pointed them out, and he went back through extinguishing the remaining small fires.

By the time she landed he was just finishing up. The rain had slowly tapered off as they had finished. It had been enough, that it left Raven dampened and allowed the layers of soot to pack onto her skin. She picked at her skin in vain as it just smeared in deeper. Reaching her arm back, she fidgeted with her bra. Normally she wouldn't wear a real one, and right now she was remembering all the reasons she didn't. But after _that_ morning, she wanted to come prepared. She wanted to feel sexy, to feel sexy for him, if the opportunity presented itself. Though, after feeling what he felt several minutes ago, she was sure he would have been just as aroused if she had been in her normal practical, boob suppressing, sports bra.

Gar changed back as she began inching under her side. Apparently, he found some sort of amusement in her discomfort.

"You could just take it off." He suggested. Leaving in haste, he hadn't cared to put on a shirt. And he was walking toward her with a lop-sided grin on his face, running his hand through is dirty hair, with only a pair of jeans on. She took note of the layers of grime on his own body. His perfectly chiseled body. Not for the first time she wondered how he had kept the pants on while transforming. How could they disappear and reappear, but not the dirt?

She slowly drug her eyes over his body as he stopped in front of her. There were more important things to think about, clearly. She hadn't realized she was flushed. But after sensing his emotions, knew he could tell she had been ogling him. It was a little embarrassing how easily he could sense these things. But after all, didn't she have the right to ogle him? He clearly enjoyed the attention. Bringing her eyes back down, she raised her hand and lightly drew it over his chest and down is abs. The bumps of each muscle thrilled her. And she took a deep breath in as she ran the other hand down the same path.

Looking at it, they could both see her lines through the dirt on his body. She felt the deep movement through his chest as he chuckled. Seeing his own hand raise, she looked up at him. Gently he wiped his thumb over her cheek, trying to push away her own grime.

"Why don't we get washed off? We can go back to that lake you went to."

* * *

Gar had shamelessly left his clothes on the shore, and joyfully dove in. When she paused at the edge, he popped back up.

"I'll tell you if anyone is coming." She nodded, glanced down, and slightly grimaced. "And the water is perfectly safe, I have a few ways to check." A slight splash sounded as he went back under. It felt good to get out of her dirty clothes, especially that bra. She lightly tossed them over to lay with his. Then it felt even better as the cool water covered her. They had worked up quite a nasty sweat and the fire had left her feeling hot and dry. She took her time scrubbing her face and body clean. Then using her powers, forced the water through her hair as she leaned back. The clear water momentarily clouded as the soot filled water flowed out of her hair, then dissipated. Gar sighed as he leaned back and started floating.

"All in all I think this turned out to be a good day." Turned, she saw him smiling at the sky. He looked and felt surprisingly serene. Letting her own body fall back and relax, she began floating beside him. His touch momentarily startled her as he grabbed her hand.

"Did you know otters hold hands so they don't float way from each other?" He mused, still watching the stars.

Raven laughed, "No, I hadn't heard that." Rolling her eyes, she laughed again. Only he would bring something like that up now.

His grip tightened a tad. "I find your laugh otter-ly adorable."

"Ugh," Raven groaned, laughing anyway, and turned slightly to look at him. He was laughing at his own pun. Slowly the laugh died down, but the smile remained.

"I do miss this I will admit. We have such light pollution in the city that you can't see a sky like this at night. Every time we have a mission in a remote area I like to steal a glance or two upwards. Though, in secret of course. Hate for anyone to know I have feelings." Turning to face her, he gave a quick wink. Raven chuckled lightly, it was actually nice they could joke at their own faults.

Suddenly he stood and started walking towards the shore. He was concerned about something, but not enough she felt the need to help. Instead she found her own footing and watched. Scooping his hands into a bowl he picked up a bit of water. Then, upon reaching the rocky end, lifted his hands and slowly dumped the water on the rock.

Raven shook her head in disbelief. Here was this handsome, powerful, rugged man standing waist deep in water, taking his time to help a moth dry off on a rock. He poked at the creature lightly, unfolding its wings for it. Then he leaned over and lightly blew on it. His eyes brightened, and raising an eye brow he glanced at Raven. Between, his breaths on the moth, she could see his devilish smirk. And then felt the rush of his emotions. He had known exactly what had passed through her mind: He was absolutely breath takingly alluring.

He pulled back from the rock, gave the bug one last poke, and vanished under the water. Raven tried to keep up with him, but he was purposefully moving too sporadic. A swish of current pushed against her leg, and she jumped, taking a step back. It was a bit thrilling to know he could pop up anywhere. She bit her lip and took another step back, eyes strained on the surface, looking for any form of movement.

As her foot stepped back, her heel grazed on the front of a leg. And she felt her whole body run into his as she had shifted her weight back in her step. His mouth found her neck as his hands made their way around her body and down. Raven let out a satisfied moan as she let her head drop back. She utterly loved his hands. They were always warm, a bit rough, and super gentle. Biting her lip, she tried to contain her eagerness as he slowly trailed down her body. He _had_ to be teasing her, she could sense the desire in him. Its intensity mirrored her own, and she had no idea how he could be controlling himself to go so slow.

Finally, she could feel his fingertips comb through her hair and she couldn't help but let out a sort of whimper. He was so close. Pleasure tore through her body as his finger ran through her folds. Arching her back, she reaching her arms up to wrap around him. He was taking his time, making sure to touch every bit of her, find exactly what she liked. Another bolt tore through her as his thumb began flicking over her clit. And if that wasn't enough, he pushed her even further when his other hand dipped inside. Briefly glancing down, she could see her bare chest in the moonlight, water dripping as it rose and fell with her shaking breaths. She had never felt so sexy and attractive before, because not only was Gar feeding her his own lust, but his unequivocal yearning for her body. Leaning her head back again, she realized at some point she begun to float up so she could grip him tighter. And he was practically holding her a foot off the lake bottom.

She dug her hands into his hair, needing something to grab on to, as another shot ran through her. It was so close and he could tell. His own body was almost bursting with need and desire to be inside her. But he was holding back, taking it slow for her. With one light push of her powers, she pushed his arms away and spun around to face him, instantly taking his mouth up in hers. Wrapping her legs around him, she delighted in his matched intensity. Part of her found it sweet he wanted to be so gentle and slow. But a much larger part was tired of being interrupted. She wanted him to embrace that urge he was trying to control. Seize upon his need, and hers.

She could feel him still holding back. So, she broke the kiss and pulled his earlobe with her teeth, knowing just how much it aroused him. But it didn't work. Leaning back for another deep kiss and using her arms, she pulled herself up against him. Knowing full well her breasts were dragging along his chest, and ground her hips into him. He was close. Then she leaned back toward his ear.

"I can't wait anymore, Gar. I need you." And that was it. Their kisses grew much rougher and full of need, as he walked them to a large rock. The warm night air greeted her as her back came further out of the water. Her butt touched the smooth rock, and immediately she widened her hips as she felt him let her go. With one last flick of his finger over her opening, he pushed in.

Raven was the first to break the kiss, she leaned back and let out an even louder moan. Releasing her grip on his neck, she propped herself up on her elbows. Tipping her head back up, she watched as their moist bodies collided in the moon light. Those incredible hands tightly grasped her hips and she could hear the water rock with him as he pounded against her again and again. Her eyes focused on the edge of his shaft as it disappeared and reappeared. But it was too much. With another long moan, she pulled her arms forward and dropped to her back. The pleasure was almost overpowering. And Gar was in pure ecstasy, sending her wave after wave of his own building pleasure.

She drug her fingers through her hair and arched her back. There was no way they could hold on to this much longer. And as sensation built she finally let it go. Gar lurched forward, his one hand landing on the rock for support. The other gripping her hip with surprising strength as her orgasm ripped through her. It was like lightning shooting through her limps, and she had never screamed so loud in pure euphoria. Her muscles tightened around him, and she could feel Gar's own orgasm trembling through him with an equally loud growl.

They stayed there for a few minutes, almost stuck in shock. Jumping just slightly, Raven felt Gar slide out. But still they just stayed there. Raven laid with eyes closed, one had draped casually over her stomach, and the other pressed to her chest delighting in how fast her heart was going. With smile that wouldn't seem to leave. Gar was equally joyful, and a bit stunned she thought. Like neither of them could really grasp how profoundly enjoyable that was going to be. She had never felt pleasure and love flood out of someone like it just had with him.

A splash of water caused her to jump slight as she felt his warm hand brush over her again. Of course, being the true gentleman, he was rinsing her off.

She raised an eye brow and looked down at him. His fang caught the moon light as he grinned up at her.

"We had come out here to get clean." Pushing himself out of the water, he crawled over her, gave her one small peck on the lips and rolled over to lay beside her. They contently laid in silence for a bit, till a sheen caught her attention.

Gar's whole body looked oily, excessively oily. But before she could say anything, it was gone, and he was totally dry. Rising to an elbow she furrowed her brows and looked over him.

He opened his eyes and smiled. "Ducks use oil to keep themselves dry, so I just have to produce the oil under the water. The water falls off. I reabsorb the oil. And I'm dry." He shrugged and closed his eyes again.

Raven rolled her eyes and looked down at her own wet skin. "You're so weird." She mumbled.

Rocking his head to the side he smirked, "Look who's talking, four-eyes."

Raven let out a shocked laugh and levitated a pebble at him. "Whatever," she laughed. And laid back down. This really could work out after all.


	12. Epilogue

Epilogue

Gar lifted his head from the grass and slowly rolled over. Shifting the scent glands in his body, he reached one arm out carefully to the small animal. It didn't move for several minutes confused to the intention of the larger animal. But after a while, its fear and inhibition died down and Gar's patients was rewarded with a tiny little peck from a bunny nose. After several more minutes the baby animal let Gar rub the top of its head.

By the time Raven joined him, he was sitting up hiding the animal behind his hands. She arched an eyebrow in question, but didn't say anything. In the past few months they had explain how specifically their powers worked to read each other. In the beginning, he had pointed out each time he could tell her heart rate increased, how her pheromones shifted, or when there was a change in her body temperature. And she had pointed out just how well she could read his emotions. Which lead to a lot of unspoken communication between the two. For example, when Raven had become uncomfortable with the change in topic at a recent party, Gar could sense it from across the room, and she made eye contact with him to tell him she was ok. And during fights, Gar knew Raven could perfectly time her move with his, knowing when he was intending to move. If she was the first to move, he could also pick up on her adrenaline and heart rate increasing.

Raven sat down on the grass, watching him. She was trying to casually peek over his hands.

"Stay there," Gar quietly spoke. She nodded. And as his hands moved away, her hands went to her mouth. That rare excited smile shown on her face, peaking out around her hands. He had introduced her to enough animals that she knew what to do. But seeing the small white rabbit on the ground almost made her forget all the rules. The slight jumping of her body, gave away exactly how excited she was. They sat there for several quiet moments. With each exploratory step the rabbit took in her direction, the more excited she got.

Once more Gar took a scan around him, trying to find where the rabbit had come from. He pointed south of them to a group of brushes next to the ruins of an old building. Raven's gaze only momentarily left the bunny.

"I think he came from over there. It's a good sign though, maybe they're returning as well?"

"I hope so," Raven said. She shifted her body, laying on her stomach and stretching one arm out to lay on the grass near the rabbit. The little animal stilled, but didn't retreat. Gar looked back out as they waited for the rabbit to grow comfortable again. A few monks waved to the pair as they walked by. One of them seemed a bit nervous of them, but the younger one had accepted Raven far easier, and walked on with ease. Azarath had grown not only physically, but as a community. And it delighted Gar to see almost everyone accept Raven so well. They were still a bit uncertain about him, but he wasn't as concerned about that. Raven had been the one that had put in the time, effort, and immense care for them, she deserved the respect they had begun to give her. And rightfully so, some were even starting to treat her as a mentor or advisor.

A small gasp caught his attention. The bunny's nose was touching the tip of her fingers and Raven looked beyond thrilled. Biting her lip, she was trying to not scare the little thing. Taking the time, he watched her, musing over the changes that had happened between them.

"I love you," Gar said.

Her eyes flicked up and she replied, "I love you too."

"I feel like I don't say it enough." He said, admiring how beautiful she looked with her beaming excited grin.

Carefully, she lifted a finger and ran it over the top of the rabbit's head. And the little baby hopped closer to her. Taking a chance, she tried it again.

"I don't think you need to." She paused, and he almost objected. But waited as she let her fingers roam over the rabbit's back. "I can feel it. Sometimes I hear couples say it to each other and I don't think they really mean it. But there's no mistaking that you mean it. And I would rather have that than you telling me occasionally." Looking back up, "sorry, if that means I don't say it enough."

Gar smiled. "I know you do too." He wrapped up the end of the sentence quickly and she followed his eyes to the monk approaching. He didn't mind letting everyone know exactly how he felt about Raven, but knew she liked to keep her private life private. The other members of the team mentioned their behavior hadn't changed much around the team. Raven wasn't comfortable with public display of affection. But unknown to everyone else, their behavior had changed dramatically. They were constantly connected in one way or another. Always aware of one another, stealing small glances, or secretly doing things for each other. He had made it a personal mission to reach the kettle before she did each morning to start her tea. And she had started to learn how to cook tofu.

"Good evening Miss," the monk slightly bowed towards Raven, "Sir," and Gar. He was always pleased when they addressed her first. "Do you mind checking out a report we got from scouts before you leave?" He reached out a hand toward her, holding a few sheets of paper.

"Of course." She sat up, pretending to not care much about leaving the bunny. But moving smoothly enough as not the disturb the animal.

Gar watched as she read over the paper. He had begun to learn a little of the language they wrote in, but not enough to fully read anything. She remained calm the whole time, reaching out after the first page, to scratch the head of the bunny that had wondered closer to her. He realized his own body had straightened as the man had approached, worried about something. And let it relax as hers did.

"It's left over from centuries ago. I don't think it's anything demonic to worry about." She said, handing the papers back. "But I would be interested in seeing it in person if those that found it could take me sometime?"

"I'll arrange it tomorrow. Thank you, Miss." He bowed slightly again and left. Cautiously, she picked up the tiny animal. And surprisingly, even to Gar, the little fellow let her. Her eyes lifted to meet his.

"What?" She asked, probably noting he was watching her.

"Nothing." He smiled.

Raven smiled and after a pause, "I love you too."


End file.
